Scott said smoking was “everywhere” when he was growing up, with both his mum and dad smoking cigarettes and his grandad smoking a pipe.
“Everybody smoked, it was in every house you went in and on their tellies, so I wanted to know what was so good about it – and I quite enjoyed it,” he said.
In the early 2000s, however, his mother Linda Haigh was diagnosed with COPD as a result of her smoking.
COPD is used to categorise a group of common lung conditions which cause breathing difficulties, mainly affecting middle-aged and older adults who smoke, according to the NHS., external
The damage to the lungs is permanent, but treatment can help slow down the progression of the condition.
“Mum always had a smoker’s cough, but from her mid-60s, she was constantly in and out of hospital with chest infections. We always wondered when was going to be the last time,” said Scott.
“She struggled for years, but she struggled with stopping smoking more. She tried a few times but said it was the only thing she’d got – she was stubborn and wouldn’t be told.”
In September last year, she died from the condition.
“I’m not going to say I fully resent her decision, but because of smoking and that she wouldn’t stop, she isn’t with us,” he said.
It caused him to see the parallels with his own health and lifestyle.
“I’ve also had a bad cough forever, I’ve cracked a few ribs through coughing, and it’d got to the point where I was blacking out from coughing too hard,” he said.
“I wasn’t bothered about stopping smoking, but when I watched my mum die, it prompted me to start taking it seriously and go for it.”