A West Lothian woman who lost her mum to lung cancer is urging people to join the campaign to stub out smoking.
Kelsey MacKay is signing Cancer Research UK’s Smokefree UK petition after losing her own mum Christine Livingstone to the disease.
New analysis by the charity estimates that tobacco causes the death of one person every 40 minutes in Scotland.
And heartbroken mum-of-two Kelsey has seen first-hand the devastating impact of smoking.
Her mum Christine smoked all her adult life and was just 52 when she died from lung cancer at St John’s Hospital in 2013.
Now Kelsey, who is mum to Freya, seven, and Rio, four, is supporting SmokefreeUK as she’s determined future generations will grow up in a healthier Scotland where tobacco no longer claims lives.
Kelsey (31), who stays in Armadale, said: “I miss my mum every day and it breaks my heart that she didn’t live long enough to meet my own children.
“My mum was my best friend. She loved my brother and me, working hard to give us everything she could in life. I was just 21 when mum died and my brother Callan was 19. Overnight we both had to grow up and stand on our own feet financially too.
“I wish things could have turned out differently, I wish we’d had more time, more years, more chances to make memories with my mum. But looking back, mum grew up in a Scotland where so many people smoked. Mum smoked around 40 cigarettes a day. And her own mum smoked heavily, dying from a smoking related illness.
“My duty to my children is to help break that cycle so they can look ahead to a healthy future. More needs to be done to end the damage tobacco causes.”
Kelsey was 20 and starting out in her career as an estate agent when her mum Christine Livingstone first developed a cough which wouldn’t go away for more than a month. Christine also began to lose weight.
She visited her GP and was at first treated for a chest infection. When she got no better, Christine was referred to hospital for tests. It was a shock when a scan revealed a shadow on her lung and in July 2012, Christine was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer.
Christine started 12 weeks of treatment which included chemotherapy and radiotherapy. By Christmas 2012, scan results were looking good.
Kesley continued: “We celebrated Christmas 2012 together as a family, hoping that the cancer was gone for good.
“It took a few months for Mum to get back up to full strength but by my 21st birthday in May 2013, Mum appeared well. We went on holiday to Marbella. I remember mum swimming in the pool and eating well. All through cancer treatment she’d said what she really wanted to relax on a beach and feel the warmth of the sun. It was a good holiday.”
But when Christine returned from holiday, she developed dizzy spells. It was a hammer blow when a scan revealed the cancer had spread to her brain.
Kelsey said: “Doctors told mum she had about six months to live.
“Mum went downhill very quickly. I helped care for her at home at first with the help of Marie Curie nurses but Mum died in hospital. Mum always spoke about how much she’d enjoy becoming a gran one day.
“She’d even knitted some baby clothes for me to give to my own children one day. I treasure these baby clothes and my own children have grown up hearing all about mum. When I think of mum I think of a wonderful lady, who cared so much about her family. I just wish she was still here to enjoy time with us.”
Cancer Research UK is calling on UK Government, and Scottish and Welsh Governments, to act now to reduce smoking rates so fewer people in the future die from smoking-related diseases.
In Scotland, England and Wales, governments have set out ‘smokefree’ targets- defined as less than 5 per cent of the adult population smoking. Scotland is not on course to meet its 2034 smokefree target until after 2050.
Cancer Research UK’s public affairs manager for Scotland, Dr Sorcha Hume, said: “The Scottish Government must ensure that its refreshed tobacco control action plan, expected in 2023, includes bold measures to reduce smoking and inequalities.
“We need more government action so young people don’t start smoking and more funding for the measures and services needed to help people quit.”
You can sign the petition here
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