Cigarette Smoking; Is It Worth The Risk?

Jackson soon became a chronic cigarette smoker and refused to heed the advice of his friends to quit the dangerous practice. He felt he was enjoying, and above all he saw his friends as people who were not sociable. He concluded he had the right to do whatever pleased him, and to take whatever gave him satisfaction.

Jackson was a promising Youngman; he was the only son of his parents (he had six sisters), and so he was over pampered, and he got whatever he wanted. Being the only male child, his parents felt he should not be deprived of anything that gave him happiness; he exploited this privilege to his own detriment.

He was academically brilliant, sociable and studious, but he was stubborn and spoilt child. He loved sports (especially football and swimming), and he joined his local football team at a very tender age as a striker. He even played for his secondary school team, where he captained them to win the principal’s cup.

Soon Jackson began to associate with bad friends and started to smoke different brands of cigarette. He started with one or two sticks a day; but later graduated to smoking several sticks to several packets a day. His friends tried to advise him to stop, noting that nicotine would harm his health. But he refused to take their advice: he gave several excuses as to why he would not be able to quit. He even said he could not eat well, go to toilet, feel relaxed, concentrate to read or even think straight without it.

He continued to smoke and nothing happened to him; but in his second year in the university, he suddenly discovered he could no longer breathe very well each time he played football. Initially he had mistaken it for the effect of the dry weather; but things soon began to get worse. He got tired with little exertion and also began to cough slightly. Within a short time, he had started coughing seriously, producing mucopurulent sputum. He began also to feel a sharp pain in the thoracic region. His appetite depreciated and, he began to lose weight. He could no longer play football, his popular game.

His parents eventually took him to see the doctor, and after some tests were conducted and x-ray taken, the doctor broke the sad news to his parents. “I am afraid, your son has got cancer of the lungs”, the doctor told his parents. They were devastated by the news. The mother collapsed and was rushed into the emergency ward where she was revived. Jackson had only few months to live; he died six months after the diagnosis. His dreams of becoming a professional footballer and a medical doctor all died with him.

He was his parents’ hope, the only male child that should sustain the family name. The parents could not bear the heart break; the mother’s blood pressure soon began to rise because of the mental and psychological trauma she went through. Two years after Jackson’s death, his mother also died.

Cigarette smoking could destroy one’s dream and vision. It could shorten one’s life and bring pains to one’s family and friends. Is the risk you take with your life really worth it? You must abstain from it and resist the temptation to smoke, because once you give in to it, you may be hooked for life.