Mohammed had smoked since high school. At the age of 40, he had a heart attack and needed a double bypass.
Thankfully, he'd stopped smoking a few years earlier after the birth of his baby girl. Had he not, "the outcome would've been worse - not for me, for my family".
I started smoking when I was 16 years old. Peer pressure, being ‘one of the boys’, and exam stress got to me. I continued smoking for 18 years.
One morning – eight years ago now – I woke up and thought, “I have a two-week-old baby girl, I want to be with her for the rest of my life”. I guess having kids made me realise one day it’s gonna hit me. I stopped smoking, literally just like that.
Six years after I stopped, I had a heart attack. I was 40 years old. I had two blocked arteries, a double bypass. My dad had also had a heart attack at 40 years. It was all from smoking
If I hadn’t stopped smoking years earlier, the impact on my heart would’ve been more severe and the outcome would’ve been worse. Not for me, for my family.
"As you grow older, you realise you don’t live your life for yourself. You realise you live your life for others, for your family and your kids."
Have I touched a cigarette since quitting? I remember after six months of being quit, I was at a Christmas party. Someone asked if I wanted to come down for a ciggie. I thought “yeah, why not, I could have one, once in a blue moon”. I had one puff, started coughing and thought “no way, it’s not happening”. I haven’t touched one since.
