John’s story

John Stevenson, 49, from Stockton, suffered a sudden heart attack at the age of just 48 from smoking.

He was in hospital for six days before being discharged, with follow up scans, and worked with the Cardiac rehab team for six months.

John is on several lifetime medications.

He said: “I started smoking at the age of about 15 at school – my parents and my grandparents and my friends smoked. I never saw it as a problem. However, by my late 30s, I was already starting to have issues breathing. I already did have an existing health problem around this as my mum smoked during pregnancy and I had problems with my lungs – I had to have one removed because of that.

“I still smoked – and by the age of 41, I was diagnosed with COPD when I couldn’t clear my lungs and had bronchiectasis. I tried quitting using NRT but as soon as I left the service and experienced a bit of stress, I was back on the cigarettes. When you lapse, by blame yourself – you think you failed. By the age of about 43, my COPD was getting worse and I knew I had to make changes – it was starting to really impact on my lungs. I was struggling for oxygen. I was struggling to even get ready in the morning and getting breathless putting my socks on or getting out of the bath. When my first grandchild was born, I couldn’t keep up and didn’t have the energy. I went back to the doctors and tried Champix.

“However, within a couple of weeks and more stress, I went back to smoking but felt I was back to square one.

“In February 2023, at the age of 48, when I was at work, I suffered chest pains. I just put it down to stress, but I was rushed to the hospital and told that I was having a massive heart attack. I went to North Tees Hospital first, before I was transferred over to South Tees, where I had three stents fitted. The doctors told me afterwards it had been touch and go and that smoking was making every organ, including my heart, have to work much harder.

“When I came out of surgery, I didn’t remember much about the surgery, but I remember seeing bruises over my chest and tubes stuck in. I was in the hospital for six days, and I remember seeing my wife and Mum come in and then being told that it was serious and seeing the look on their faces as if I had already died.

“The doctors told them and the kids that because it was such a massive heart attack, they could not make any promises whether I would survive. I remember thinking ‘I need to live for these.’

“I had three grandchildren at the time, and I knew I needed to be around for my family. I know now I was in denial about the impact that smoking had on my health. Before my heart attack, I was ready to roll my eyes at anybody who asked me whether I smoked because I thought I was doing other things to protect my health, like eating a good diet. But you realise what a massive impact smoking has on your health above and beyond all other things.

“I have now been smokefree 18 months and the difference is incredible. I vaped to quit smoking, and it means I can just pull the drawer out if I get stressed and have a puff on my vape rather than a cigarette. If you just have one cigarette then that means you’re a smoker again – having one is the worst thing you can do because it is never just one.

“I would much rather a vape than a cigarette. My health has improved beyond my dreams – I’ve been signed off around my lung health for COPD and signed off by the pulmonary team. I feel better, and healthier and enjoying life again – able to play on the beach with my grandkids. I can’t believe that I ever thought smoking helped with stress- smoking makes you more stressed and feel more chaotic – quitting smoking makes you feel calmer and much less stressed.

“I’ve saved a fortune in just one year of quitting which has paid for a second holiday – an all-inclusive 10 day trip to Tunisia. I can’t imagine now what I would’ve saved if I hadn’t smoked for 30 years – probably a mortgage.

“For me having a flavour for vapes helps me move much further away from smoking – I can see why they might restrict such a huge range of flavours, but people don’t want to be tied to a tobacco flavour or constantly reminded of smoking and that’s been an important part of switching away from tobacco for me.

“What’s happened to me has actually made me better at my job helping other people to stop smoking easier. I have always worked in addictions, but I understand now much more on the barriers to quitting. Very often people don’t know what support is available or they feel like they’ve failed if they don’t succeed. Treat any attempt where you manage to stay off cigarettes for a time as a success – you’re learning how to quit eventually.

“If you don’t succeed, treat it as a blip, not a failure. Each time is different, and you can try something else. People should never be embarrassed to try as many times as they can as many of us have to do that before succeeding.”