'I suffered three strokes in one week, now I educate people on the dangers of smoking'
Yousuf Javed smoked thirty cigarettes a day
Last updated 14th Jan 2025
A man from Dover has told us that he wants to make 'other people's lives better' after suffering three strokes in just one week at the age of twenty four.
Yousuf Javed used to be an engineer for Network Rail but after making what he describes as a 'series of terrible life choices', he became homeless.
And that was his life for a year, until he suffered two transient ischemic attacks (mini strokes) and then a full stroke just a few days later in 2016.
It was the stress of becoming homeless, a long with smoking 30 cigarettes a day that caused the health scare and Yousuf said: "I was at a really bad point in my life, I was living in a homeless shelter, coming from a really good job, having just lost everything, it was demoralising but it was also an eye opener.
"Being 24, I had family and friends that were thriving and moving forward and here I was stuck in a vicious loop, though the stroke made me realise that it was my was my life choices that got me to where I was and from that the only way forward was up."
Doctors immediately told Yousuf that his lifestyle needed to change and despite having dreams of going to University, the now 32 year old quit smoking.
Yousuf said: "My main focus and task is to highlight the dangers of smoking, helping people change their lifestyles and making their lives better, taking this positive that helped me to help hundred and thousands of others.
"A lot of people just don't realise how dangerous smoking is, a lot of the people we speak to believe because something hasn't happened to them yet then they will just keep doing it but that's the wrong attitude.
"We need to look at life on the broader spectrum, appreciate what we have around us, and make the change now before something is too late."