‘He smoked to the very last day’: Daughter whose dad died of cancer urges Government to help people quit smoking

A daughter who watched her father die of cancer after smoking for years is urging people to sign a petition calling on the government to help people quit.

Deborah Peñate Gómez, 29, from Bermondsey, grew up watching her father, Juan Pedro, smoking every day.

Ms Gómez, now working in financial services, said: “My memories of my dad are of him always smoking. I remember having merchandising from the brand he smoked, like beach towels. 

“And I remember when I had to print schoolwork out, the paper would always smell of tobacco because the ash tray he used was right next to the printer.”

She would write no-smoking messages in her Father’s Day cards and put ‘Smoke-free’ signs on her bedroom door but he never stopped, saying he would give up when the doctor told him he had to.

Sadly, by the time that happened, it was too late and Mr Pedro died of lung cancer in 2012 aged just 49, Ms Gómez was 18.

She said: “He did try to stop smoking multiple times, from the day I was born but he just couldn’t do it. He smoked while he was in hospital, to the very last day. 

“It shows what an addiction like this does to you and the level of help people need to stop smoking.”

Now Ms Gómez is asking people to sign a Cancer Research UK petition which calls on the Government for more support to help people quit smoking.  

The petition comes following recent research by Cancer Research UK that estimates one person in London is killed by tobacco every hour.

Around 11.5 per cent of people in the capital still smoke.

Smoking is linked to at least 15 different types of cancer including lung and bowel cancer and is estimated to be responsible for around 4,300 cancer deaths in London each year, more than a quarter of all cancer deaths in London.

The charity is urging the Prime Minister to set up a ‘Smokefree Fund’ to pay for vital interventions, like stop smoking services and public health campaigns, and says the tobacco industry should be made to foot the bill for the damage it causes – not taxpayers.  

Ms Gómez said: “My dad thought he would beat it, but he passed away just before the Christmas holidays. 

“I was 18 at the time and my siblings, Juan Luis and Iván, were just 15 and seven.

“When we told Iván, he said my dad was now in heaven with grandad and they would be watching football together. It was adorable and so sad at the same time.”

Ms Gómez wants to ensure that tobacco has no place in anyone’s future.  

The Government has set a target for England to be “smoke free” by 2030 – defined as less than five per cent of the adult population smoking. 

However, Cancer Research UK estimates that smoking rates need to drop a staggering 70 per cent faster than currently projected for this to happen.

A spokesman from the Department for Health and Social Services said:“We are committed to achieving our ambition to be smoke-free by 2030 and recently announced new measures to help more smokers to quit.

“These include a national ‘swap to stop’ vaping scheme, financial incentives to help pregnant women to quit. We also plan to consult on the introduction of mandatory cigarette pack inserts to give information on the benefits of quitting smoking, and direct to the available support.

“Backed by £58million over the next two years, our new plans will help even more people to quit smoking – saving lives and cutting NHS waiting times in the process.”

Pictured top: From left, Juan Pedro and Deborah Peñate Gómez on holiday, Ms Gomez last year (Picture: Cancer Research UK, Deborah Peñate Gómez)