I started smoking at 18, and continued to smoke a pack a day for the next 12 years. Having lost 4 uncles and an auntie to smoking related illnesses, I knew I was playing with fire by continuing to smoke, but being without a cigarette sent me crazy with withdrawals, and I felt I would never be able to quit. I was terrified not so much of lung cancer or heart disease, but of getting COPD, and having to live ten years of my life on oxygen, struggling for breath. I made quit attempts with patches, gum and inhalers, but they didn’t satisfy the cravings and in the end I always went back to cigarettes. Eventually I heard about electronic cigarettes, or personal vapourisers, and decided to try them. I continued to smoke for three months while using the ecig, and I won’t say it was easy to ultimately stop completely, but the ecig smoothed the way and kept me from going back to the ciggies. I am smokefree for nearly two years now, and I couldn’t have done it without electronic cigarettes. I can’t remember the last time I had a craving, and I feel like I am no longer condemned to spend my last years fighting for each painful, gasping breath.