'Watching my mum die from lung disease made me quit smoking'

"Having to sit there and watch her die was what made me realise I wasn't going to do that to my own kids."

Scott Brooks, from Maltby, was just 17 when he started smoking, saying it was just "the norm" for the 1980s.

But after watching his mother die from smoking-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in September, the 49-year-old decided it was time to quit for good.

Six months on from her death, the father-of-six is now encouraging others to stop and has joined the regional Turn the Corner campaign, supported by local authorities and Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Scott said smoking was "everywhere" when he was growing up, with both his mum and dad smoking cigarettes and his grandad smoking a pipe.

"Everybody smoked, it was in every house you went in and on their tellies, so I wanted to know what was so good about it - and I quite enjoyed it," he said.

In the early 2000s, however, his mother Linda Haigh was diagnosed with COPD as a result of her smoking.

COPD is used to categorise a group of common lung conditions which cause breathing difficulties, mainly affecting middle-aged and older adults who smoke, according to the NHS.

The damage to the lungs is permanent, but treatment can help slow down the progression of the condition.

"Mum always had a smoker's cough, but from her mid-60s, she was constantly in and out of hospital with chest infections. We always wondered when was going to be the last time," said Scott.

"She struggled for years, but she struggled with stopping smoking more. She tried a few times but said it was the only thing she'd got - she was stubborn and wouldn't be told."

In September last year, she died from the condition.

"I'm not going to say I fully resent her decision, but because of smoking and that she wouldn't stop, she isn't with us," he said.

It caused him to see the parallels with his own health and lifestyle.

"I've also had a bad cough forever, I've cracked a few ribs through coughing, and it'd got to the point where I was blacking out from coughing too hard," he said.

"I wasn't bothered about stopping smoking, but when I watched my mum die, it prompted me to start taking it seriously and go for it."

He said quitting smoking had improved his cough and made breathing easier but, more importantly to him, given him more time to spend with his family.

"I'm a lot more present when the kids are here, instead of playing with them for 15 minutes and going out for a cig," he said.

"If we go out for a meal, I don't miss half a conversation because I'm outside smoking.

"It's improved my quality of life no end."

Tony Graham, director at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: "It's well known that smoking is strongly linked to lung cancer, but it is also a cause of at least 15 other types of cancer.

"It remains the biggest preventable cause of cancer worldwide, and its impact can often span generations when children grow up seeing smoking as part of everyday life.

"Even after a cancer diagnosis, stopping smoking can significantly improve how well treatments work, support better recovery, increase the likelihood of survival and reduce the risk of cancer coming back."

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