'Smoking killed me': Pensioner issues final warning... on the back of his funeral hearse

[Kadie]

'Smoking killed me': Pensioner issues final warning... on the back of his funeral hearse
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:41 PM on 02nd March 2010


A smoker's final wish was fulfilled today when his hearse was paraded through the streets bearing the sign Smoking Killed Me.

Dick Whittamore's last request was that the stark message be displayed alongside his coffin and by his gravestone as a warning to others.

The signs, printed in the same typeface as the health warnings on a cigarette packet, read Smoking Killed Me, Albert (Dick) Whittamore.


'Smoking killed me': The coffin of Albert 'Dick' Whittamore arrives at St Mary's Cemetery in Dover, Kent surrounded by his warning to others


snip...
He said: 'He gave specific instructions in his will. Apparently he was a heavy smoker in his youth and he suffered from emphysema for several years, making his breathing very difficult.

'His will said he wanted to warn smokers what can happen if you continue the habit.

'We put the boards one each side of the coffin and one behind. His gravestone is going to have a traditional message on it, but we are to leave one of the printed boards saying "Smoking Killed Me" by the grave for one week.


Stark message: The funeral directors remove Mr Whittamore's coffin



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1254881/Cigarettes-killed-Message-smoker-funeral-hearse.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0h4izxi4j

[kayakjohnny]

1. Wow!

Nothing further.

[Raine]

2. Good for him

maybe it will save someone. :thumbsup:

[Brickbat]

3. Of course, he was 85.

The quote from the end cracks me up -- about how he and his friend thought that strippers carrying the signs would have gotten even more attention.

[CreekDog]

4. he sounds like a wickedly funny guy

sorry to hear his later years were uncomfortable. :(

[Warpy]

7. And my mother died at 94

Cigarettes ruined the last 25 years of her life, forcing her to fight for every single breath she took. It was heartbreaking watching her struggle to get enough air to get to the bathroom, to get through a meal, to walk across a room.

You can't be a moderate to heavy smoker and expect to live to your mid 80s with no damage. It just doesn't happen like that.

You might get a long life. You just won't enjoy the last quarter of it.

[Kadie]

19. That is heartbreaking.

I had several members of my family struggle their last few years due to their smoking habits. :(

[Shell Beau]

8. Yeah, and when he started smoking, he probably didn't

know how bad it really was. We know now how bad smoking is. Still people start. I did. I started smoking when I was 19-ish. I knew it was bad, but I did it anyway. I quit with no problem at all when I got pregnant, but that was only because I was so sick with the pregnancy, that a cigarette was the nastiest sounding thing ever. I was actually lucky in that sense. I certainly didn't appreciate that at the time (20 straight weeks of throwing up all day will do that to you), but it made quitting easy because smoking was not an option.

[Brickbat]

12. That's when I quit -- when we decided to start trying to get pregnant.

It was quite an incentive, but actually I did not find it hard to quit. I do miss it, though. Every day. I loved smoking.

[Shell Beau]

13. Me too. I don't miss the stinky smell. You don't realize

how stinky it is until you quit and smell it on someone else, but I do miss it.

[Brickbat]

14. HA! So true. Whenever Mr. Brickbat or I smell a smoker, we're like, how on earth did we think we

were fooling people that we didn't smoke?

But ohh, after a certain meal, he and I will look at each other and hold up two fingers, knowing that the only thing that would make the meal better is a cigarette and a cup of coffee at the end of it...

[Shell Beau]

16. Food, coffee, stress, and drinking are all made better with a cigarette.

It just went together.

[UTUSN]

5. It doesn't say how long he smoked, but likely ignored all warnings from everybody else.

I smoked for 30 and ignored, so I can say it.

[bigwillq]

6. 85!!!!

Wow. Lived a long life. RIP

[Canuckistanian]

11. He COULD have lived to see 86

But the demon weed cut him down in his prime.

[Maru Kitteh]

17. Do you know how miserable the last decades of a smoker's life are?

[Barack_America]

9. Very savvy of him.

Everybody at least glances at a hearse.

Kudos and godspeed, Mr. Whittamore.

[NYC_SKP]

10. My sign will read, "Bush was a Terrorist. And he Killed the American Dream", or similar...

Now that I know you can specify such signs on your hearse.

:P

[salguine]

15. Makes me remember this

...spot made by Yul Brynner that aired after his death from lung cancer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNjunlWUJJI

[Kadie]

18. Wow. I haven't seen that in years.

Thanks for posting.

:hi:

[Bluenorthwest]

20. Because at 85 he had a long, long life ahead of him

[daleo]

21. I imagine he spent a lot of money on cigarettes too

It robs your wallet while it robs your lungs.