'I always hoped my mum would give up smoking', says Iwan Thomas

IT TAKES a healthy pair of lungs and strong legs to run 400 metres in under 45 seconds. But that’s just what Iwan Thomas did in July 1997, when he set a British record which still stands nearly 20 years later.

 

Iwan Thomas is backing a new campaign by Public Health England to raise awareness of COPD

 

So it’s a painful experience for such a supreme athlete to watch a loved one struggle for breath simply walking around the house.

Last year Iwan’s mother Ann was diagnosed with a condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (also known as COPD). This little-known term describes illnesses that devastate the lungs such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Smoking is the biggest cause but experts fear that public awareness of the condition is low.

It seems tobacco users who may be conscious of the risks of lung cancer are largely ignorant of the similar dangers from COPD.

 

Iwan broke the 400m record in July 1997

 

Lung tumours kill an estimated 28,000 men and women in England every year. COPD is thought to be close behind – killing around 25,000 a year and blighting the lives of around one million people.

The British Lung Foundation says although the vast majority of cases are smoking related, COPD can be triggered by other things.

It says: “People who don’t smoke but have long-term severe asthma can also get COPD. It can also be caused by long-term exposure to air pollution, fumes and dust from the environment or your place of work.”

Former Strictly Come Dancing contestant and TV presenter Iwan, 41, from Southampton, is backing a new campaign by Public Health England to raise awareness of the condition and to encourage more smokers to quit in the New Year.

“I’d never heard of COPD until mum was diagnosed,” says the former European and Commonwealth 400m champion, who represented Great Britain at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.

“She smoked from a very young age, probably her early teens. And when I was growing up she was a heavy smoker, maybe even having as many as 40 a day.

 

Iwan Thomas with former Strictly Come Dancing partner Ola Jordan

I have never even taken a single drag

Iwan Thomas

 

“The only positive thing that came out of it was that it put me off smoking altogether. I have never even taken a single drag.

“I wanted to be an athlete but I didn’t start running until I was 17 and even before that I never felt any temptation to smoke.”

Ann, 72, was careful not to jeopardise Iwan’s sporting ambitions by exposing him to smoke in the house, normally lighting up outside or when he was not around.

Iwan says: “In the 1970s and 1980s smoking was the norm but mum would try and shield me from it. She never smoked at the dinner table or blew it in my face.

“But I always hoped that she would quit.”

When Iwan’s dad Cliff rang to say he had bad news about his mum’s health, Iwan feared the worst.

“Dad said she was unwell as a result of smoking and I instantly thought she had lung cancer.

“I was really worried about her.”

Iwan admits he was initially relieved his mother was cancer free.

 

Smoking is the biggest cause for COPD but experts fear that public awareness of the condition is low

 

But the sprinter recently discovered how COPD can be just as much of a death sentence for some sufferers.

The condition causes extreme breathlessness, a persistent cough and frequent chest infections.

Doing housework, gardening or popping to the shops can become herculean tasks.

During a visit to the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, Iwan discovered first hand what it feels like to have the lung disease.

He donned a special mask that makes breathing more difficult, along with a high-tech corset that squeezes the chest to duplicate the effort needed just to inhale air.

   

The sportsman donned a special mask that makes breathing more difficult to simulate COPD

 

“It was truly terrifying. I couldn’t even walk up the stairs because I was so out of breath. I’m still in pretty good shape and live in a four-storey house so I run up and down stairs all the time.”

Dr Nick Hopkinson, a consultant in respiratory medicine at the Royal Brompton, says many patients are only diagnosed years after symptoms first appear.

“One of the biggest problems is that it sneaks up on people. Most of those diagnosed in their 60s or 70s would first have noticed symptoms 10 or 15 years earlier.

“It is often dismissed as smoker’s cough or as a symptom of getting older. But it’s not normal to get breathless as you age. The trouble is these people can look quite normal while sitting still, so you wouldn’t necessarily know that anything is wrong with them.

“It’s only when they try to exert themselves that it is noticeable. This condition kills people – in fact it’s the third biggest cause of death in the world, after heart attacks and strokes.

“Yet in the UK there is a serious lack of awareness of it,” says Iwan who hopes the campaign will save smokers from the terrifying diagnosis his mum received.

She has finally quit smoking and he is urging others to do the same.

Iwan adds: “It can add years to your life and life to your years.” 

? Visit nhs.uk/smokefree for help and advice on giving up smoking.

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