One You Kent - Penny's story video transcript

This transcript is for the video for One You Kent - Penny's story.

Tracy, the interviewer who is our of frame of the video, asking questions to Penny: How long did you smoke for?

Penny, sat in on a small sofa facing the interviewer out of frame: A staggering, nearly 50 years.

Tracy: What do you wish you had known before you started smoking?

Penny: first of all I wish I’d known that it really wasn’t cool to stick a Vogue silk-tipped cigarette in my mouth because I just wanted to look like a model, and I never knew how addictive it would be.

Tracy: What motivated you to quit?

Penny: I smoked my way through a melanoma in my eye, which has rendered me blind in one eye, and I’ve smoked my way through a melanoma on my nose, and finally, the lung health check team got hold of me, and they said, we want to do a check on your lung and they found a node. And that node, there’s nothing happening with it, but it could turn, but that really was the final straw.

Tracy: How many times had you tried to quit?

Penny: Countless times. Countless. I mean, I think the longest that I ever did was six months. My husband said that he wouldn’t marry me unless I gave up smoking. I gave up smoking for six months and the stress of marriage was just far too much – I had to take it up again. He was furious of course.

Tracy: What support did you get through One You Kent?

Penny: Every support I could have wanted. Number one was they were just so available. It was such a seamless, seamless journey for me. I never thought I could give up, and I always found an excuse if they’d make it difficult for me, I could never have done this. So A; it was available. B; they had every tool to help me and I mean every tool. Number three is they actually had a fantastic range of substitutes, all paid for by the NHS and last but not least, I had the most fantastic counsellor, who was so well trained and I know how much work has been, has gone into providing this service. So it was a seamless journey.

Tracy: What is the best thing about being smokefree?

Penny: I feel so much better. I’m no longer wheezing, I’m not coughing and not coughing up stuff. I’m no longer embarrassed. I don’t smell of smoke all the time. It’s just wonderful, wonderful. I feel like I’ve been, I’ve got out of jail free, actually.

Tracy: How has quitting smoking improved your overall health and wellbeing?

Penny: Not smelling of smoke. Not being a pariah in society and actually feeling proud that I’ve climbed Everest. I mean, you guys gave me a lot of crampons to get to the top of Everest but I still had to do the journey, you know, holding your hand. But I really felt that I was in good hands.

Tracy: What advice would you give someone who wants to quit smoking?

Penny: Do it. Don’t even think about it. But really, you have to join the service to get help.

End Screen voice over: For support to stop smoking, visit kent.gov.uk/smokefree or call 0300 123 1220.