Wendy and Amy have both successfully stubbed out the habit after life-changing experiences
Mother and daughter Wendy and Amy Robinson are helping to lead the “Turn the Corner” quit-smoking campaign(Image: Guy Meachin)
Two former smokers are the faces of a major new campaign to inspire the region’s 562,000 smokers to make a quit attempt. Mother and daughter Wendy and Amy Robinson are helping to lead the “Turn the Corner” campaign, with the powerful message that every cigarette takes 20 minutes off your life.
The campaign, which launches today (Wednesday, April 8) features Wendy, 53, of Cleethorpes, and mum-to-be Amy, of Hull, who have both successfully quit smoking after life-changing experiences. Wendy quit after sadly losing her mum to the progressive lung disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) so that daughter Amy would never have to go through the same experience.
With support from her local stop-smoking service, she quit using an inhalator and patches but unfortunately, she was later diagnosed with kidney cancer caused by smoking. The cancer was removed but the following year she was told she had lung cancer, also caused by smoking, and needed further surgery.
She said: “I felt bad on my family and when I could see my husband crying, I’d think I don’t want to lose him – it’s not the surgery that upset me but thinking of my husband and daughter. I’m just so glad I stopped smoking when I did.”
Wendy said she felt she was turning the negative she had experienced into the positive by helping other people, through the campaign. “I am here to tell the story,” she said, “thank goodness I stopped smoking nine years ago.”
Wendy has lost three-and-a-half stones since her lung surgery and “never felt better”. She said stopping smoking was a “life-changer” and urged people to “get help, it’s out there.”
Amy also smoked but after seeing what her mum went through, and finding out she was pregnant, she also decided to quit. Amy said: “Seeing my mum go through kidney and then lung cancer was horrible.
“I thought, if she can stop smoking after 34 years, then I can quit too. And then finding out I was pregnant was a big motivator to keep going and stay quit.”
Amy’s first baby is due in just over three weeks. She said it was “surreal, really” to be helping to lead the quit-smoking initiative with her mum.
“If you’d have said five years ago I’d have been doing something like this, I’d have said ‘no way’. I’d never been a heavy smoker, maybe five or six a day, so I didn’t feel I was particularly bad for doing that.”
Amy said she felt that her and her mum’s “lived experience” might resonate with people. “I’m not a professional, preaching,” she said, “I’m just an ordinary person.”
She said: “I got to the age of 12 and my gran would put a rollie down to go to the bathroom and I’d have a drag on it. It became so normal, but it’s an addiction at the end of the day.
“Mum tried to stop smoking many times but it was always without any support. Having that support from the Stop Smoking campaign, the nicotine patches, the vapes, has made it so much easier – I quit with vapes but I think it’s important to say they are not replacements for cigarettes, they are to help you stop.”
Amy said she felt brighter and had “so much more energy” and enjoyed the taste of food more as a result of stopping smoking – and she has also saved money towards baby things and for herself. “Almost a year on I’ve saved so much money – I’m not getting to the end of the month and having to say no to things.”
Wendy added: “I’m so proud of her and it’s great that my grandchild will be brought up in a smoke-free environment – they won’t see smoking as normal like I did.”
Turn the Corner is a collaborative campaign being co-ordinated by the Centre for Excellence in conjunction with all 15 local authorities across Yorkshire and Humber and Yorkshire Cancer Research, who are committed to reducing smoking and protecting local communities from the harms of tobacco. Scott Crosby, associate director of Centre for Excellence, said: “Everyone knows someone who has been affected by tobacco harm.
“Smoking is the biggest cause of preventable death and ill-health in Yorkshire and Humber. It’s a leading cause of health inequalities in the region and has a huge impact on people’s lives.
“Every cigarette steals on average 20 minutes of life – that’s why campaigns like ‘Turn the Corner’ are so important to raise awareness of the harm caused by tobacco. Wendy and Amy know first-hand the devastation that smoking has on your health and are a perfect example of how quitting can help you turn a corner.”
Tony Graham, director of retail, services and operations at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “It’s well known that smoking is strongly linked to lung cancer, but it is also a cause of at least 15 other types of cancer. As well as kidney cancer, smoking can lead to cancers of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, bladder, liver, pancreas, stomach, bowel, ovary, cervix, breast and, in some cases, even leukaemia.
“It remains the biggest preventable cause of cancer worldwide, and its impact can often span generations when children grow up seeing smoking as part of everyday life. Wendy and Amy’s experiences show both the profound harm caused by tobacco and the powerful difference that quitting can make, not only for an individual’s health, but for the health and future of their family.
“Even after a cancer diagnosis, stopping smoking can significantly improve how well treatments work, support better recovery, increase the likelihood of survival and reduce the risk of cancer coming back. By standing alongside our partners in this campaign, we hope more people across Yorkshire and Humber will feel supported and encouraged to take a step towards a longer, healthier life.”
Turn the corner with Yes to Quit. Visit yestoquit.co.uk for free, personalised support to stop smoking in Yorkshire and Humber. If you live in Yorkshire and Humber, you can get six months’ access to all features on the Smoke Free app for free, including nicotine replacement medication as part of the campaign, worth up to £300.
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