'I quit smoking for 10 more years with my grandchildren'

Steve Bird said he could not praise nurses enough for helping him to quit

A former miner has said his love for his grandchildren and the death of a close friend had finally given him the motivation to quit his decades-long smoking habit.

Steve Bird, 62, from Armthorpe in Doncaster, took up smoking aged 17, and would average at least a packet of cigarettes every day.

Steve said a cancer scare prompted him to seek help, and praised NHS stop smoking services for supporting him in kicking the habit.

He said he realised it was "stupid putting poison in your body", adding: "I'm impressed with myself because I thought I never had enough willpower to stop."

Reflecting on his eight grandchildren, Steve said: "I spoil them with time, they get all my time.

"They've made me realise I'm not going to be here forever."

The motivation to quit had previously evaded Steve.

He said: "I thought 'you've no chance of stopping Steve, I don't know why you're trying', but this time I think it was the grandkids."

Steve said his GP was concerned he might have lung cancer - although tests proved negative.

But he does have emphysema, a condition in the lungs where the walls of tiny air sacs become damaged.

Further motivation to quit cigarettes came when a close friend died a few months ago.

Steve said: "I thought he'd live forever, but you don't."

His friend also had grandchildren and Steve said they were "bereft" over his death.

"I thought about my own grandkids and I thought, 'I don't want my grandkids seeing that'," he said.

"So I thought, 'now's the time Steve, you've got to do it, or else you're going to lose 10 years of playing with them kids', and them kids love me to death.

"I said 'right Steve, enough's enough', and I stopped."

Quitting smoking had ended an annual cigarette bill of more than £5,000.

Steve said he was no longer throwing that money away, and was far more focused on spending time with his family.

Steve's GP referred him to Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) services to stop smoking, and he credits the support he was given by specialist nurses as being crucial in helping him quit.

He said: "These patches she gave me, I struggled at first, but with the help of the staff I managed it.

"I didn't realise the people were that good, if I'd known how good they were I'd have done it years ago, absolutely amazing."

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