A 62-year-old Oldham man who started smoking at age 10 and chain-smoked 40 cigarettes daily for 50 years has achieved his first 1,000 smoke-free days after doctors warned he faced leg amputation.

Jim Partington, a former professional soft rock singer, received the devastating diagnosis of vascular disease three years ago after struggling with increasingly severe mobility issues. Medical scans revealed the inflammation and weakness in his veins and arteries had progressed to the point where continuing to smoke would likely cost him his leg.

“It was a stark wake-up call. I’ve always enjoyed having two legs and I wanted to keep it that way,” Partington said. The warning proved more powerful than previous health scares, including an angina attack and heart attack that still hadn’t broken his addiction.

Partington’s smoking habit began innocuously in primary school, when he and friends would buy cigarettes claiming they were for their mothers. “Nobody questioned you in those days,” he recalled. “I’d be able to go into the shop to buy fags for my mum, and as long as I bought the same brand as her, nobody said anything.”

The longest he had previously managed to quit was four days, despite multiple attempts and watching the price rise from £3 per pack to modern rates. His wife Sarah, also a smoker since age 10, joined him in quitting after being told her upcoming spine surgery would have better outcomes if she stopped.

The couple found success through Your Health Oldham’s free NHS stop-smoking service, where advisors recommended Partington use two nicotine patches simultaneously to match his heavy nicotine intake. Three years later, the pair have redirected their former cigarette money into twice-yearly holidays abroad, with Partington noting their savings have been “astronomical.”

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