Don't ask "Did you smoke?". Just ask "how do you feel?".

My name is Apostolos Kyriakis. I am 59 years old.

Unfortunately, I recently lost a close friend to lung cancer. My friend smoked, I know he was feeling bad about it. He regretted it to the very end of his life.  Stigma around lung cancer is an added burden for patients. I myself have heard very harsh words for smokers impacted by lung cancer. My friend too was feeling the stigma, through his thoughts and guilt. It was an additional burden. I just didn’t want him to carry it.

Why worry about things we can no longer change?

I like to help people quit smoking.

I’ve already been doing it and will continue to do it in the future.

But I don’t want any of my beloved ones to be troubled with guilt.

No one would want this for people they love.

I used to be a smoker for many years. I have smoked a lot in my life. One day I took a decision. No cigarette would be stronger than me. I would be stronger than smoking. 20 years ago I quit. It’s an addiction that’s hard to quit, hard to beat. After 20 years, there are still moments when I wish to smoke, but if you really want to, you can quit. It’s a lot easier than we think. 

We all think we have unlimited time.

But we don’t. So let’s enjoy time with our beloved ones and let’s all try to have beautiful moments with people we love and keep raising public awareness of lung cancer. Without stigma.