Family of Hartlepool man who died from COPD urges smokers to quit
Today is national No Smoking Day
A mother and daughter from Hartlepool have made an emotional appeal for people to quit smoking following the death of their husband and father.
Debbie Thomas, a clinical support worker at the University Hospital of North Tees, lost her husband Denham in 2021.
Diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) – a disease that destroys the lungs and is caused by smoking – when he was just 35, former pub landlord, nightclub doorman and fitness instructor Denham was confined to a wheelchair from his mid-fifties, requiring full-time family care and oxygen.
Debbie said: “Smoking changed Denham’s life completely, and it changed all our lives. It is so terribly sad thinking of all the things he missed out on.
“Nothing can prepare you for how frightening it is to see someone close to you struggling to breathe. It was such an awful experience because whilst he was gasping for every breath and his lips going blue, all I could do was watch because if I tried to help it would only make the situation worse.
“He would tell everyone he could to stop smoking and tell them: ‘You don’t want to end up in a wheelchair and on oxygen like me.’ ”
Debbie and Denham’s daughter Sadie, now 25, have featured in a video by Fresh North East to share Denham’s story and to encourage other smokers to quit for good and to show the impact that smoking can have on an entire family.
Sadie said: “Even as a child I knew things were different because of my dad’s health, and it just got worse over the years.
“He missed so much. He never even got to meet my daughter and his granddaughter Soul. He would have loved her.”
Ailsa Rutter OBE, director of Fresh and Balance, said: “Tobacco is devastating in the scale of harm and death it inflicts on people who smoke. It also affects the families left behind. Too many people in our local communities have experienced the pain, the worry and the loss from diseases caused by smoking.
“Never give up on quitting smoking. Every time you try to stop smoking you learn something, even if you don’t succeed the first or second time. Next time it can be different.”
169,000 people in the North East tried to quit smoking last year
New figures released to mark National No Smoking Day (11 March) show that around 169,000 people in the North East tried to quit smoking in 2025.
Analysis from UCL’s Smoking Toolkit Study found that among people aged 16 and over in the North East surveyed in 2025 who had smoked in the past year, 46.4% reported they’d recently tried to stop. Of those 28.6% were still not smoking at the time of the survey – equivalent to around 48,000 people across the region.
Separate figures from Fresh from a sample of 1,368 smokers shows the appetite to quit is already strong: 47% of North East smokers say they want to stop and 79% wish they had never started.
With the Tobacco and Vapes Bill reaching its final stage in the House of Lords, the UK is on the cusp of introducing a smokefree generation law that will phase out tobacco sales for good, by ensuring anyone born from January 2009 can never legally be sold tobacco.
The North East has seen the largest fall in smoking in England – from 29% in 2005 to 10.2% in 2024. The region also has a Declaration for a Smokefree Future to end the death and disease of tobacco, which was launched in 2023 by Fresh, the Association of Directors of Public Health North East and the North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board. Since then NHS trusts and local councils across the region have all backed this.
Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director of Fresh and Balance, said: “This No Smoking Day we’re encouraging anyone who smokes to give it another go.
“Next time you try to stop, using one of the proven ways to quit smoking can boost your willpower, ease the cravings and help you stay off tobacco for good.
“Quitting gives life back – no matter how long you’ve smoked. Your body starts to recover from the day you stop smoking. Your lungs start to repair and you will be able to breathe easier within weeks.”
She added: “Five million people still smoke in the UK – it’s a lethal addiction which kills two in three smokers early. Most people – whether they smoke or not – want a smokefree future for the next generation, free of the death and the many diseases caused by tobacco.”
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death in the UK, causing around 80,000 deaths each year and harming nearly every organ of the body. The good news is that stopping smoking brings immediate health benefits at any age.
Many people try to quit smoking with willpower alone, but it’s much easier with help. Quitting aids, vaping and local stop smoking services can give your willpower a turbo-boost and help manage cravings for nicotine.
Hazel Cheeseman, Chief Executive of charity Action on Smoking and Health said:
“History shows that big, high-profile policies create a real ripple effect. When smokefree laws banning smoking in public places were introduced in 2007 almost one in five people who tried to quit said the new law helped motivate them. Now we have the chance to do that again, inspiring the 5.3 million people still smoking to join the smokefree generation and take a step towards ending the harm caused by tobacco.”
Help to quit smoking:
• For more information on Fresh, visit: www.fresh-balance.co.uk
• Smokers in Stockton and Hartlepool can call 01642 383819 for advice and support to quit.
• Smokers in Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland can call 01642 727579 to access expert smoking cessation support.