'If I hadn't quit, I would have died'

GILLIAN WHO STARTED SMOKING AGED 11 LENDS SUPPORT TO REGION'S QUIT CAMPAIGN

- By DEBORAH HALL

AN East Yorkshire woman who smoked for two decades and was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) aged 38 is supporting Yorkshire and Humber's first quit smoking campaign. “Turn the Corner” was developed and filmed in the region and Gillian Cunningham is urging other smokers to quit as part of the initiative.

Gillian, from Pocklington, quit the habit after seeing the harm caused by smoking on loved ones, and her own diagnosis. She is urging an estimated 30,000 smokers in the East Riding to quit as part of Turn the Corner.

Gillian first started smoking around the age of 11 and ended up smoking about 40 cigarettes a day. At the age of 38 she was told she had the lungs of a 96-year-old.

Gillian said: "I started smoking when I was really young, as was the norm back then. Everyone smoked, so I was surrounded by cigarettes every day as my mum, dad and my siblings smoked.

"I didn’t really think about the impact of smoking until it started to affect my family. My dad had a heart attack at 59 and never smoked again.

"My auntie died of throat cancer and my brother had a collapsed lung twice. Thankfully, he has managed to stop smoking too.

"But the worst thing I had to deal with was losing my mum. Sadly, the month before I was getting married, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and bone cancer, and she died five months after.

"It was awful watching her suffer. I stayed with her at the hospice, until she died.

"Quitting smoking was life-changing for me. I feel so much better and I have been able to spend quality time with my family.