CHUFFED TO BE PUFF-FREE

Some of the stories about how readers gave up the dreaded weed are nothing short of inspirational – and are sure to help anyone who still hasn’t managed to kick the habit.

Reader Terry Ward, 78, in Whiston, Merseyside, started smoking in 1961 aged 16, and says: “I paid five shillings for a packet of 20. I thought I was the bees-knees. So grown up.”

Terry carried on puffing away for the next 30-odd years till 1995, when he was made redundant. “By this time I had a family to provide for, so I gave up smoking to save money.

“I had three cigs for breakfast one day and never smoked again!”

Determined Terry gave up without any aids – just willpower. He says: “My family was way more important than any cigs!”

Born in January 1939, Terry Morris started smoking at the age of 14 while he was still in school. “I used to buy Woodbines with my wages from my paper round – my parents didn’t seem to mind as both were smokers, as were my older brothers,” says Terry from Pontllanfraith, in Blackwood, South Wales.

Terry started working underground in his local mine aged 15.

“Obviously I couldn’t smoke there so during work I chewed ‘baccy’ and also took snuff,” says Terry, who was still smoking 15-20 fags a day on top of that!

But then a bet in a pub prompted the then 31-year-old to quit. “I won the bet – my two mates went back to smoking after three months.”

He admits: “It was the hardest thing that I’d ever done, and I swore I’d never smoke again. I’m nearly 85 and can honestly say if I hadn’t packed in, I wouldn’t be here now.”

But it was true love that got Maureen Sowerby, below, on the cancer sticks.

“The first cigarette I had was from my friend John, who rolled me one with liquorice paper when I was 14.

“We started courting at 16 – he paid for our tickets to the pictures and I bought the cigarettes to share!”

Now 80, Maureen, who lives in Leeds, says: “John stopped at 30 because he always had a bad chest in winter, and I gave up when I was 50.” She adds: “I don’t think we’d be celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary next month if we had kept on smoking.”

■ When did you first start smoking and how did you quit? Email me at siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk