GERRY
DALY
HOW VAPING SAVED MY LEGS
F
ormer Manchester
United and Republic
of Ireland football
international Gerry
Daly tells Vapouround
Magazine how vaping
literally saved both of his
legs and had had a dramatic impact on
his health and well-being.
Dublin-born Daly, 61, earned 48 caps
for his country and scored 13 goals for
Ireland during his international career.
The midfielder made 142 appearances
for Manchester United during the 1970s
where he scored 32 goals during that
time. He has also played for clubs
including Bohemians, Derby County,
Coventry City, Leicester City, Birmingham
City, Shrewsbury Town, Stoke City and
Doncaster Rovers.
Daly signed for United in 1973 under
manager Tommy Doherty for £20,000 and
made his debut against Arsenal away
from home where 50,000 fans watched
the Gunners win by 3-0.
His first goal came the following year
when United beat Chelsea 3-1 away from
home on March 30, 1974 and he went on
to score a hat-trick against Millwall later
the same year.
Tommy Docherty sold Daly to Derby
County in March 1977 for £175,000
and later said the move was one of
the biggest mistakes of his managerial
40 AUGUST 2015 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE
career.
Daly's first competitive goal for Ireland
was in a 3-3 draw away to Denmark in a
1980 European Championship qualifier
and he scored from the penalty spot in
his last Irish international against Uruguay
in a 1986 friendly which ended in a 1-1
draw.
In more recent times, his health has
suffered and doctors told him that he
could lose both of his legs unless he quit
smoking.
Despite this dire warning he was unable
to quit no matter how hard he tried until
he took up vaping.
Here he tells his story of how vaping
changed his life and led to him being able
to finally quit smoking for good…
When did you start smoking, what got
you to start and how many cigarettes
did you smoke each day?
I started smoking when I was 12, all
through my life. I was on about 20 a day.
Did you smoke when you played
football? If so what was the attitude
to smoking back then. Did you have to
hide it from the manager or did others
do it too?
I went to Manchester united when I was
18 and smoked cigarettes throughout
my playing career. There were always a
few smokers in the team. In those days of
course there was no law against smoking
in public.
Did it affect your game at all in terms
of fitness etc?
I never felt that it did because I was so
young and fit. We weren’t supposed to
smoke but I did anyway.
Did you want to quit back then or not?
I tried to but it never lasted long. If I got
through 48 hours that was a miracle.
Can you explain how your smoking
patterns developed in later years…i.e.
did you start to smoke more and did
that worry you at the time?
No, not significantly more.
When did you realise that smoking
might be a problem and what made
you realise this?
After I retired, the wife and I used to do
a lot of walking and found my calves
were aching, an intense pain. That’s
when I went to the doctor. He said that
my arteries were blocked from years of
smoking.
Did you want to quit at this stage? If
so can you tell me how long you tried
to give up and what methods you
used?
I didn’t really try, I just thought an
operation would cure it and I could just
carry on. I would never put a patch or
anything on me.