Englishman who starts smoking from 12 years old undergoes surgery to remove most of his tongue

Englishman Henry Pridding, 66, smoked cigarettes from the age of 12, which led to the development of cancer of his tongue. Doctors had to remove his tongue and sew an artificial one made of his own skin.

According to Manchester Evening News, Henry smoked every day since he was 12, but his health problems started years later. At age 62, he began experienced problems with meals, and when he went to the hospital, he was diagnosed with cancer.

The surgery to remove the tumor lasted 14 hours, and together with the tumor, the doctors had to remove 10 Henry's teeth. Then they created a man’s artificial tongue from his skin to replace the remote real one.

Henry now wears jaw-holding needles and a metal plate on his face. The incident seriously affected not only his speech, but also his way of thinking: Henry gave up smoking and now calls on everyone to follow his example. Henry's wife was found to have lung cancer, which was also a consequence of smoking. After treatment, the disease receded.

Henry and his wife have 5 children and 12 grandchildren, who, according to them, give them strength. No one in the family smokes after what they experienced. Children of Henry note that they will never smoke, because they do not want their children to have to go through everything that they went through.

“Smoking has devastated our family, that’s why we all stopped smoking,” Henry says. “We want to share our story in the hope that it will help other people stop – like we wish we had done before cancer struck. If you make one New Year’s resolution, make it to quit smoking. It might not be easy, but it’s worth it. We did it, you can too.”