I lost my dad to lung cancer - now I'm fighting to raise the legal smoking age with Cancer Research UK

A Lancashire woman who lost her dad to lung cancer urged the region's MPs to back a proposed law to raise the legal age for buying tobacco.

Celia Rigby-O'Neill, 52, says her dad, Alec, started smoking when he was only 13 years old.

He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008 and died just three weeks later, meaning he sadly missed out on walking Celia down the aisle at her wedding.

Celia, who lives with her husband Darren in Blackpool, said: "I remember smoke would fill the living room at my parent's house, like so many homes back then.

"It used to sting my eyes. My dad quit smoking after he had a heart attack and then suddenly one day a few years later he couldn't breathe.

"They thought it was a chest infection, but doctors then discovered that it was lung cancer.

"They said he had six months to live, but he died three weeks later aged 86."

When she turned 50 Celia stopped smoking herself saying she didn't want "history to repeat itself".

"He didn't make it to our wedding, so he didn't walk me down the aisle," she added.

"It was a horrific way to watch him die, I felt so helpless, and it has since impacted me desperately.

“I used to smoke on and off since I was a teenager, then I started getting chest infections, and I knew I had to stop.

"I didn't want to put Darren through what I had been through."

The call from Celia, who works as a civil servant, came as new analysis by Cancer Research UK estimated that if the legislation was successfully implemented, up to 1.1 million fewer cigarettes would be smoked in the North West each day by 2040.

If passed, it would raise the legal age of sale of tobacco products in England by one year every year, meaning anyone born on or after January 1, 2009 will never be legally sold cigarettes. 

The legislation, introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, is now heading towards a crucial vote later this spring.

Celia is calling on the public to email their MP and encourage them to vote in favour of the legislation at cruk.org/SmokefreeGeneration.

She said: "I would appeal to everyone to use their democratic right to have a voice.

"The upcoming vote is a critical milestone towards ending the devastating effects of smoking, which has caused nothing but pain for us.

"For the sake of future generations we must do everything we can to make sure MPs get this over the line."

Cancer Research UK said Age of Sale legislation was a vital step on the journey to a smokefree UK.

Jemma Humphreys, the charity’s North West spokeswoman, said: "The biggest cause of cancer has no place in our future.

"Nothing would have a bigger impact on reducing the number of preventable deaths in the region than ending smoking.

"So, we must make sure our MPs are behind this critically important Age of Sale legislation. Together, we can make a smokefree generation a reality.”