Video is provided in Chinese version only.
Mr HON Man-guai, who is in his 70s, looks healthy and energetic with a smiley face all the time. But whenever he talks, he needs to place the voice prosthesis in the tracheo-oesophageal puncture under his collar to create a voice. This is the consequence of having been a heavy smoker when he was young. The talkative guy suffered from laryngeal cancer and lost his voice.
Don’t wait until it is too late
Hon’s father used to smoke around him when he was young and it aroused his interest to smoke. He picked up his first cigarette at 13 and addicted to it since then. His dependence on tobacco became higher after he worked in a nightclub where all of the colleagues were smokers. He could consume 4 to 5 packs of cigarette per day as he was a chain-smoker who smoked one cigarette after another and didn’t even need a lighter.
In 1989, Hon started to have a hoarse voice and even completely lost his voice. Having been persuaded by his family and doctor, he attempted to quit smoking but in vain after three months as he couldn’t resist the temptation from others smokers. Sadly, he was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. Although he finally kicked the habit before the surgery, he still lost his ability to speak as his larynx was removed.
Hon felt relieved and more energetic after saying no to smoking. Nevertheless, he was despondent for a while after the surgery because of losing his voice. Luckily, Hon found his new goal and meaning of life through being a volunteer and learning to regain his voice at The New Voice Club of Hong Kong (A mutual help association among the language ectomics). He is now the vice-chairman of the Club and keeps visiting patients in the hospitals, helping the laryngeal cancer survivors to rebuild their voices and disseminating smoke-free and cancer-prevention message to every corner of the city.
Quit now, no excuse!
Hon believes that it is crucial for quitters to stop smoking completely after deciding to quit. They should be determined and give up all excuses like “Let’s quit after finishing this cigarette” or “It will be fine to smoke occasionally”. Once you start lighting up the first cigarette again, you will pick up the second and the third. He also advised quitters to avoid other smokers and take a lozenge for distraction as well as fighting against the withdrawal symptoms.
Sixty-five-years-old TANG Wing-ming who had been a smoker for over four decades, is another laryngeal cancer survivor and had his larynx removal surgery 6 years ago. He is now volunteering for the voice rehabilitation group at The New Voice Club of Hong Kong after learning Esophageal Speech there, and is dedicated to promoting smoking cessation. “The cause of laryngeal cancer is still unknown now. However, smokers have a greater risk of developing such cancer. Fortunately, I have successfully encouraged many friends to kick this habit for preventing the unreversed harms to their heath caused by tobacco.”
