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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Hollie Bone

Toddler who chain-smoked '40-a-day' is unrecognisable after quitting cigarettes

A two-year-old boy who chain-smoked 40 cigarettes a day now looks unrecognisable after ditching the habit years on.

Ardi Rizal, from Sumatra, Indonesia, was just a tot when he was shown smashing his head against a wall if he couldn't smoke.

The chubby little boy made global headlines when shocking pictures showing him puffing on cigarettes circulated around the world in 2010.

But despite a sour and dizzying process to get off them, Ardi has successfully quit and shed the pounds by replacing his unhealthy diet with fruit and veg.

Ardi told CNN in 2017: "It was hard for me to stop. If I am not smoking, my mouth taste is sour and my head feel dizzy."

Shocking pictures of Ardi circled the globe (Getty Images)

He added: "I am happy now. I feel more enthusiastic, and my body is feeling fresh."

Shockingly, Ardi became hooked when his own father passed him a cigarette at 18 months old.

But concerned about how Ardi might hurt himself if he couldn't get a hit of nicotine, his mum, Diane, sought help from a Government intensive care specialist.

At the time the unhealthy youngster was guzzling three cans of fatty condensed milk a day, weighing a stone over the healthy average for a boy his age.

Ardi now enjoys a healthy diet and lives cigarette free (Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Diane told the Daily Mail in 2013: "When Ardi first quit smoking he would demand a lot of toys.

"He (would) start to smash his head to the wall. He was crazy, hurting himself if he didn't get a cigarette.

"That's why I get him cigarettes in the first place – because of his temper and his crying.

"Now I don't give him cigarettes but he eats a lot.

"With so many people living in the house it's hard to stop him from getting food."

Ardi holds up photos of himself as a tot when he smoked 40 a day (Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Once his smoking days were behind him, Ardi swapped one addiction for another and developed a love for junk food which led for him parents to recruit a nutritionist.

Now he survives on a healthy diet of fresh fish, fruit and vegetables to help him keep a trimmer shape.

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