When Tobias was hospitalised due to smoking-related health issues, he faced a difficult crossroads. But amidst the uncertainty, one thing kept him going—his loyal dog. This emotional story reveals how the unbreakable bond between a man and his best friend became the motivation to turn his life around and embrace a healthier future.
Watch Tobias’ heartfelt journey and how the free support from our stop smoking service helped him stub out his last cigarette.
Video Transcription
Life before I quit smoking. Couldn’t breathe properly, constant coughing, couldn’t even walk from my front room to my bathroom without getting out of breath, bad skin, smelt all the time of cigarettes, couldn’t get dressed properly neither. I got quite depressed and not feeling the urge to want to do anything. It just all Yeah. got too too much. Tobias was in a very bad way when he first came into hospital. He was gray in color. His face and his lips were were actually gray. Tobias was at risk of losing his life if he continued to smoke. I wasn’t ready. I was in denial. I just didn’t believe that that was the reason why I ended up in hospital. And then my friend brought my dog up and basically told me to take one hard look at her. And what would Jet do if worst case scenario if I did die? Jet’s my pride and joy. She’s my world, you know what I mean? So, it was like I needed to do it for her. And I kind of put my hands up and said, “Okay, what do I need to do?” You know what I mean? And Tracy was then she was on board from the beginning anyway, giving me all the help and all the advice that I needed. She just didn’t quit. She kept showing up, showing me all the support and all the encouragement. She also passed me on to stop smoking service. All the support they gave me basically helped me realize there’s there’s people fighting my corner. So, if you join our service, we can provide um some quit aids. So, we use patches and the patches are great. They give sort of a slow release nicotine through the day. We’ve got things like the lozenes, the gums, and vapes. There’s also a few medications available that we can do through your GPS. We tried a variety of different stop smoking aids and he was desperate and I was very desperate to support him. I didn’t want him to feel um that we’d run out of options or ideas because there are always things we can try. And by liazing with his GP and engaging him in the community support, he was able to finally stub out his last cigarette. Since quit smoking is my breathing was a lot better, like my chest felt open. I could smell flowers. My walking got a lot better. I could actually get from my front room to my toilet without getting out of breath. started going out and doing more social things like going to the cinema. I smell better. Do you know what I mean? Cuz I don’t smell of smoke all the time. Oh, it means so much to be able to look after Jet, which is all I’ve got in this world. When I was ill, I got in a really low place where I was giving up. Whereas, when I quit smoking, I felt like a whole new lease of life, a whole new reason to be alive and lifted my mood hugely. [Music] Tobias’s life has improved enormously. He’s so full of life now. He’s enjoying being back with Jet, enjoying not coming back into hospital, doing all sorts of things he wasn’t able to do previously. [Music] If I didn’t start the journey in September, if I’m completely honest, I don’t think I’d be here anymore. I think I would have passed. With the right support and the right help, you can you can you can turn your life around because I have and I’m and still still am turning it around. I think it’s important to learn from Tobias’s story that no matter how many times you try, it’s always possible. The help is out there and it is worth giving it a go. If you’re contemplating quitting, give it a go. Reach out for that support. A service like ours can really help you um and make you quit for good. The support I’ve received from One You Surrey has been absolutely amazing. Like, it’s been very important to my journey and I wouldn’t have been able to stop smoking without them. [Music]
