County Councillor Jimmy Kavanagh enjoys having a cuppa with Fiona Boyle, HSE Donegal Smoking Cessation Advisor, who helped him quit smoking 10 years ago.
This means, for him, that he has not smoked around 200,000 cigarettes in that time.
And, on top of that, Jimmy estimates that he has saved more than €100,000 in the process!
Jimmy’s advice to others:
The following are his tips for others when thinking about quitting:
· Relapse is normal and you can learn from it – if at first you don’t succeed try again.
· It helps if you can get yourself mentally ready.
· It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be –the hardest part was getting the thinking right.
· Try not to think of it as a sacrifice and that you are giving something up – it’s more about taking something back as it’s the biggest favour you’ll ever do for yourself.
· Seeing Fiona every few weeks helped because you knew there was someone else rooting for you and you didn’t want to let them down. Having the Carbon Monoxide test each visit also helped to keep you going.
Jimmy first told his story to Donegal Daily last month and as a result several people have contacted Jimmy to say that they have been inspired by it.
It goes to show that even though quitting smoking can be difficult, the more support that a person can get from the people around them and along with trained professionals, the more likely they are to quit.
Thanks again to Jimmy for allowing his story to be told.
If you are interested in joining the free HSE Donegal Smoking Cessation Service please contact Fiona on Tel: 0872514790 or Health Promotion on Tel: 0749104693.
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