'I was a walking disaster': Die hard smoker with a 100-a-day cigarette habit QUITS after puffing for 27 years from 5am until he fell asleep at night - and reveals how he beat the cravings
- Walter Humphreys chain-smoked 100 cigarettes a day 'non-stop' for 27 years
- Mr Humphreys, 58, from Townsville, Queensland, first started smoking at 13
- He largely rolled his own cigarettes with a 50g packet of White Ox per day
- Bad habit morphed into 'horrendous' addiction while he was in jail in 1990
- 'It was one after the other, all day and all night,' Mr Humphreys said
A man who chain-smoked 100 cigarettes a day 'non-stop' for 27 years has revealed how he kicked the 'filthy' habit.
Walter Humphreys, 58, would puff on cigarettes from the moment he woke up at 5am until he fell asleep at night at 10pm.
'I was a walking disaster,' the die-hard smoker from Townsville, Queensland said. 'It was one after the other, all day and all night.'
Walter Humphreys (pictured) , 58, would puff on cigarettes from the moment he woke up at 5am until he fell asleep at night at 10pm
Mr Humphreys was 13-years-old when his step-brother and his mates peer-pressured him into having his first cigarette.
What began as a bad habit morphed into a 'horrifying' addiction during a prison stint in 1990.
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The addiction kept Mr Humphreys - from a family of 'smokeaholics' himself - in its clutches for close to three decades afterwards.
Mr Humphreys said at his worst 'I had nicotine stains all over me fingers, me bed. I was just a wreck.'
Mr Humphreys (pictured) was 13-years-old when his step-brother and his mates peer-pressured him into having his first cigarette
Mr Humphreys (pictured) smoked even as he battled through leukemia and several bouts of chemotherapy just seven years ago
He smoked even as he battled through leukemia and several bouts of chemotherapy just seven years ago.
The terrible addiction cost Mr Humphreys a 'fortune'. Mr Humphreys typically rolled a two ounce (50g) packet of White Ox tobacco a day.
That today costs about $80AUD. In the past decade, cigarette prices have doubled and are creeping closer to $40 for a standard pack.
Mr Humphreys wouldn't always pay. The ex-convict was so desperate he would puff on 'bumpers' - rolled cigarettes filled with leftover tobacco from used sticks.
He tried to quit several times. His methods included going cold turkey and 'going to a farm' to work hard, but did not work.
(File picture) The terrible addiction cost Mr Humphreys a 'fortune'. Mr Humphreys typically rolled a two ounce (50g) packet of White Ox tobacco a day
Mr Humphreys' (pictured) biggest tip to smokers looking to quit is simple: Think about anything else other than smoking
Two years ago a chronic lung disease diagnosis forced Mr Humphreys to try and make the most of his 'second chance' at life.
With the help of Queensland's Quitline, he cut down - first from 100 cigarettes per day to 80, then to 60, 40, 20 and finally to zero.
The hardest part was the first step - slashing the number of sticks he smoked from 100 to 80 per day.
'Your lungs are so used to copping a beating, and the cravings were more strong,' he said.
'I was craving (so bad), I was chewing my fingers, my fingernails - I just couldn't keep busy enough.'
(File picture) Health authorities have urged lifelong smokers to keep trying to quit, rather than give up the first time they fail
His biggest tip to smokers looking to quit is simple: Think about anything else other than smoking.
'If you think about it, you're gone,' he said.
'Go and do something, anything - watch TV, have a shower - keep busy and don't think about it.'
Even today, Mr Humphreys' battle with addiction isn't over.
Sometimes he will smoke up to four cigarettes a day. 'Everyone relapses, we're not perfect ... I'm trying my best'.
But he feels '100 per cent better' now he has almost ditched what he describes as one of the worst drug addictions.
'Before you know it, you're walking down the street and going, 'I can smell the fresh air, and smell the ocean' - I couldn't do that before..
'If I can help just one person to quit the habit then it's worth doing this story.'
Mr Humphreys (pictured) says he feels '100 per cent better' now he has almost ditched what he describes as one of the worst drug addictions
