Vapouround Magazine ISSUE 35 | Page 138

FEATURE

If vapes had been around then , I would have tried them … I would have felt I was doing a better thing than smoking cigarettes .

THE CASTAWAY
Desperate to end his 43-year addiction to cigarettes , a former banker marooned himself on a deserted island with no electricity , 120 books and only sheep for company . Geoff Spice , who started his 40-a-day habit at just 13 , said he turned to island life to help him quit and hasn ’ t smoked since . He said : “ I tried several conventional ways of quitting , but I thought that putting myself in a position where I couldn ’ t get any cigarettes would make me quit .” Living in Australia at the time , Geoff didn ’ t want to face the wildlife of a nearby island , so he returned to the UK and set his sights on the small Isle of Sgarabhaigh in Scotland ’ s Outer Hebrides . He said : “ I got my wife to drive me there and drop me off before taking a boat to the island because there was no other way to get there . It was completely uninhabited apart from about 40 sheep .” While he planned to spend the month in total solitude , he quickly became a celebrity after a Ukrainian TV crew turned up with gifts of crisps , newspapers and whisky .
He said : “ I look back fondly because it was such as big adventure . “ It was something no one else has ever done and it worked … I don ’ t think I could have given up smoking in those days any other way .” Fortunately , smokers no longer have to go to such extremes to kick the habit , with reduced risk products like e-cigarettes making it easier than ever to quit . Geoff said : “ If vapes had been around then , I would have tried them … I would have felt I was doing a better thing than smoking cigarettes .”
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