Laura lays down the law in letter to mum (From Warrington Guardian)

Laura lays down the law in letter to mum

CHAIN smoker Carol Bevan had often contemplated kicking the habit.

But that was as far as she ever got.

The 37-year-old, of Dundee Close, Cinnamon Brow, lit up her first cigarette at the age of 15 and never looked back.

Until she found a lump in her neck in March this year.

Thankfully for the mum of three, her fears were allayed when it turned out the lump was merely an enlarged lymph node.

But it was the shock of being a smoker and finding a lump that prompted her to kick the habit.

Carol said: "I asked for the details of my stop smoking support group there and then. When I found the lump my first thought was that I had robbed my children of a mother and it was my fault. I had brought it on myself."

Coupled with the shock of finding the lump was the heartbreaking letter written by Carol's nine-year-old daughter , Laura, pleading with her to give up.

Carol says: "The letter read 'I love you and want you to give up smoking as it will save my heart from breaking because you will live longer and have a better heart and better life.' How could I not give up when I read that?"

Carol went along to her first one to one session with Warrington Stop Smoking Service and chose a date the following week to kick the habit once and for all.

She says: "They tested my carbon monoxide level and it was 62 per cent; in a non smoker it's one per cent. But in three days without cigarettes it had gone down to seven per cent and I felt like I could start breathing properly again.

"It's very odd really because I've not had any cravings and only used the patches for a couple of weeks.

"I feel completely free of cigarettes now even though I never used to be without one. I know I'm finished for good - I really don't see what the attraction was. If I can give up anyone can."

Warrington Stop Smoking Service has clinics across the town operating from 9am until 8pm. For more details log on to www.warringtonpct.nhs.uk or call 843713.

sharker@guardiangrp.co.uk