RONNIE KRAY

Ronnie is now 41 years old and remembers starting smoking when he was 13. A few of his friends were smoking and so he thought he would have a go. When most people start smoking, they usually smoke cigarettes; however, Ronnie’s first smoke was a cigar! He says he remembers feeling really dizzy and drowsy and that the cigar smoke was so strong, not just catching him in the back of the throat, but feeling it affect the whole of his body. Ronnie then smoked about one cigar a week until he was about fifteen years old then he started to smoke cigarettes. Until the age of thirty, Ronnie continued to smoke cigarettes before moving on to smoking rollies. Ronnie has a seven year old daughter who would always ask that he stopped smoking and would even hide his tobacco from him!

Ronnie’s first attempt at stopping smoking was with the use Champix and after quitting he felt good and confident. Sadly, after losing his best friend in a tragic accident the first thing Ronnie
reached for was a cigarette. Before he knew it he was a full time smoker again. After speaking to his best friend’s wife, she encouraged him to have another go at quitting. Again, using Champix, Ronnie gave up smoking and has never looked back.

After costing him around £47 each week, Ronnie has now saved over £700 and has treated himself to an i-phone, this alone cost him £350. Something that he wouldn’t have been able to afford if he still smoked.

Ronnie has now stopped smoking for 7 months and says he is more aware now of the dangers of secondhand smoke, especially as he works as a doorman and has all the smokers coming outside of the bar to smoke. He’s not as breathless now when he uses the stairs and can feel the benefits whilst out walking his dog in the park with his daughter. Ronnie has even considered going back to his kickboxing, of which he used to be a champion at!

His message to others who are thinking about quitting is “Giving it a try isn’t going to kill you”.