A woman who smoked since she was a child has said it took a lung cancer diagnosis at the age of 34 to make her quit.
Aoife Lyttle smoked since she was 11-years-old, right up until her diagnosis back in 2021.
When the mother-of-four felt pain in her chest and back, she thought she had pulled a muscle.
She told The Pat Kenny Show she smoked from a young age because her mother did too.
"I grew up with my mother and she was smoking, so I was smoking with her," she said.
"Me and my sister started young smoking and we didn't give up.
"I did try a couple of times, but it took the lung cancer diagnosis to finally kick it".
'I was getting pains'
Aoife said she knew something was wrong in August of 2021.
"I was getting pains in my chest, I was getting pains in my back," she said.
"I actually thought I'd pulled a muscle - the husband was rubbing Deep Heat on me, and he hit my neck and I was like 'Ouch'.
"I felt one lump on the right side of my neck, the following day I felt a second lump.
"Normally I wouldn't go to a doctor, because normally I'm healthy - but this time I thought, 'No, there's something wrong here'".
Aoife was put on antibiotics and was told to come back if it didn't clear up.
"I did go back and the two lumps were still there, so she took me in for bloods - and told me that my chest infection markers was up, so she was sending me for an x-ray," she said.
It was this x-ray that would reveal "an abnormality” on her lung.
'I thought my life was over'
Aoife was then given a CT scan which showed the full lung cancer diagnosis.
"They told me, 'Get your husband in here, we need to talk to you' - what they said to me was a blur.
"The husband was asking questions but then, in September, they gave me the diagnosis officially.
"When I was diagnosed with stage 3B lung cancer, I thought that was it, my life was over."
Aoife said she was told it wasn't necessarily smoking that gave her cancer.
"They said that I wasn't smoking long enough for it to cause the cancer.
"They also said that it wasn't a gene mutation, and that if I won the lottery I wouldn't be as lucky".
"I've been so lucky'
Aoife, who is in remission and on immunotherapy, said her last cigarette was just before the scan that led to her diagnosis.
"I had my last fag at 3.40 going in for my x-ray, and I haven't touched a fag since," she said.
"I have been so lucky.
"Sligo General have worked wonders, the University has worked wonders - I cannot thank them enough.
"Every scan I went for has been good news".
'You appreciate life more'
She said this has changed her whole outlook on life.
"I try to make as many memories as I can," she said.
"I didn't actually think of death and stuff like that until I got diagnosed.
"Lung cancer has a very bad rap, and when you hear the words, you just think, 'It's a death sentence'.
"Lately we've been trying to make as many memories as we can.
"We've gone to Disneyland, and I've always wanted to pet a dolphin and I got to pet a dolphin.
"You appreciate life more," she added.
