Giving up smoking isn’t easy, and some people go to extreme lengths to kick this bad habit. Take for example İbrahim Yücel, a Turkish man who has resorted to wearing a metal cage on his head all day to stave off smoking.

42-year-old İbrahim Yücel had been smoking for the last 26 years, but after his father died from lung cancer caused by tobacco cigarettes a few months ago, he decided the dirty habit just wasn’t worth losing his life. But giving up smoking is almost never as easy as we would like, and despite several attempts to quit cold turkey, he always found himself going back to smokes. Every year on his kids’birthdays he told himself he wasn’t ging to smoke anymore, but he never lasted longer than a few days. Finally, the father of three realized he just didn’t have the willpower to quit, and that it was time for more extreme measures. Inspired by motorcycle helmets, İbrahim built himself a copper wire cage that goes over his head and makes it impossible to get a cigarette anywhere near his mouth. He fitted the bizarre headgear with two locking mechanisms and gave the two keys to his wife Kawthar and his 14-year-old daughter Ayse. Now whenever he leaves the house he is unable to light up no matter how bad he craves a cigarette.

Photo: OĞUZHAN KILIÇ/DHA



After his father died, İbrahim was pressured to quit smoking by his mother, brothers and his own family, but he just couldn’t fulfill their wish. His two-packs a day addiction was simply to difficult to overcome, and the temptation to smoke overcame him whenever he left the house. Now, with the cage on his head and no way to sneak a cig, the Turkish technician says he is the happiest person in the world. His wife admits that at first the metal cage seemed a bit unusual to her, but after seeing it really did stop İbrahim from smoking, she has become very supportive of his endeavor.

Photo: OĞUZHAN KILIÇ/DHA

Ibrahim suffered an accident recently and was confined to his home, but he starts work again today, and that’s when he hopes his metal cage will really come in handy. He’s aware of how ridiculous he looks wearing it in public, or trying to drink water through a plastic straw, but says the goal to quit smoking is much more important than people’s opinion. I wonder if he at least tried an electronic cigarette as an alternative to analogs before turning to his strange cage. If anything, this shows you just how hard it is for some people to give up smoking.

In 2008, the Turkish Health Ministry made the sale of e-cigarettes illegal for suppliers who didn’t go through a complicated and lengthy licensing process. To this day, no company has applied for the license, preferring to risk getting fined instead. As a response to their defiance, the Government is now considering a national ban on electronic cigarettes, claiming they are no different than conventional cigarettes. If their decision if finally enforced, you might see a lot more people walking with metal cages on their heads.

Source: Türkyie Gazette/DHA