"My Dad Couldn't Climb the Stairs at 60. At 47, I Was Out of Breath on a Stepladder." — The Stoke Plasterer Who Swapped the Vape for a Stick of Wood
Gav switched to vaping because it was "the safer one". Eight years later, he was lying awake at 3am with his heart going like the clappers.
"I'd watched my dad struggle for breath for the last ten years of his life. Then one afternoon I'm halfway up a stepladder skimming a ceiling and I've got to stop and get my breath. At 47." — Gav, 47, Stoke-on-Trent
Gav has been plastering in Stoke for twenty-six years. Same van, same radio station, same mates on the same sites.
His dad was a miner. Smoked from 14. "He was out of breath on the stairs at sixty. Couldn't walk to the end of the road by the end."
Gav swore he wouldn't go the same way. Eight years ago, after twenty-five years on roll-ups, he switched to a vape.
"Everyone said it was 95% safer. So I thought, right, I've sorted it."
"Nobody says a word if you vape on site."
The trouble was, a site doesn't stop you vaping.
"You couldn't smoke inside a job. Vaping? Nobody says a word. So I'd be on it all day. Mixing, skimming, in the van, at home. I was on it more than I ever smoked roll-ups."
He noticed it in small ways first. The cough he thought he'd left behind with the cigarettes came back. Then the stepladder.
3:12am
"It was a Tuesday. I woke up at 3:12. I know because I looked at the clock. My heart was going like the clappers. Really pounding. And the first thing I did, before anything, was reach for the vape on the bedside table."
He lay there with it in his hand.
"I thought: this is mad. I'm lying here frightened, and the thing I'm frightened about is in my hand."
The next morning he rang the doctor.
"Vaping isn't really something we treat."
The GP checked him over. ECG fine. Bloods fine.
"He said I should stop vaping. I said, I know, that's why I'm here. He said the stop-smoking service is for smokers, and vaping isn't really something they treat. Gave me a leaflet."
So Gav tried on his own.
Patches. "Gave me a rash. And they don't do anything for your hands, do they?"
Cold turkey. "Two days. I was climbing the walls."
The Allen Carr book. "Read it twice. Agreed with every word. Still vaped."
"The nicotine was never the hard bit. After a day or two you can manage. It was the habit. Thirty-odd years of something in my hand every few minutes. You can't just switch that off."
Donna's find
It was his wife, Donna, who found HÜM. An ad on her phone.
"She shows me this stick of wood and I laughed. I said, Donna, I'm not sucking on a pencil."
But she'd read the bit that mattered.
"She said: it's not for the nicotine, it's for your hand. You do the patches for the nicotine and this for the habit. And I thought, well, that's actually the bit nobody's ever helped me with."
What HÜM actually is
HÜM is a stick of wood and metal, about the length of your finger. You hold it and draw on it, the same movement your hand already knows. A small flavour insert inside gives you cool, lightly flavoured air.
- No nicotine
- No vapour
- No battery
- A twist ring to set the draw (Gav likes it tight)
"It's not a vape. Don't expect a cloud. The first week the flavour's faint. That's the vape, not the stick: your taste comes back after a bit and then it's proper minty."
Gav isn't unusual. More than 22,500 people have tried HÜM, and 89% feel the urge fade within 30 days.
Five weeks on
Patches for the first fortnight. HÜM in his overalls pocket, where the vape used to live.
"First week, I used it constantly. Second week, a bit less. By the fourth week I'd go a whole morning on site without thinking about it."
"I'm not saying it fixed my lungs. I'm not a doctor. I'm saying I haven't vaped in five weeks, and I haven't woken up at 3am reaching for anything."
He stops for a second.
"My dad didn't get the chance to sort it. I did."
Try HÜM risk-free
HÜM Starter Pack — £49.99 £82.99 (40% off)
- 1 HÜM stick + 3 flavour inserts (around 72 hours each)
- Free UK delivery · ships in 3 days
- Or 3 interest-free payments of £16.63 with Klarna
30-Day Guarantee. Use HÜM every day for 30 days. If you're not satisfied by Day 30, email hello@feelhum.com and get a full refund. No questions. No hassle. Less than 1% of customers ever claim it.
★ 22,500+ customers · 89% feel the urge fade within 30 days
THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT AN ACTUAL NEWS ARTICLE OR BLOG POST. Gav's story is a dramatisation based on real customer experiences; names, places and photos are illustrative. Results vary. HÜM contains no nicotine and is not a medical device and does not treat any condition. For medical concerns, consult your healthcare provider.