Mr. Robert Hurley:

Absolutely. I played hurling, football and golf. I did karate at a national level, ran marathons and Half Ironman races and did triathlons, and that was into my mid-40s. I knew there was something wrong with me. I spent a year persuading the doctor to send me to a specialist. I spent two more years in the Galway Clinic. I actually went for a lung biopsy. I am probably one of the youngest people ever to get a lung biopsy. In that period between June and August, I was left in limbo and told I was okay, even though I was on steroids for a year and a half getting that therapy. My illness today is still non-specific. I have lung disease with no history of it. I never knew anything about it. Only for the specialist I had, a colleague in the Mater, I would not be here today. I started with oxygen and walked 1 km in Lahinch. I had to stop seven times. I could do 12 rounds of boxing rather than cough for 20 minutes. That is the only way I can describe it to the committee. The lung function test was mentioned. I have to do that every six months and I do not look forward to it. I would walk with oxygen for 20 km if I could rather than do that test for 20 minutes because it physically and mentally drains you. I cannot explain it to those who have not done it themselves. You end up coughing so much. I arrived in the Mater not being able to breathe and with blue lips. I did not have a clue what was wrong with me. Only for my strong heart and my fitness, I would not be here. I have progressed only because of the care I am getting in the Mater. I have no problem driving up once a month, and I am very privileged, but there are many people not like me. Now I understand this and I have learned a lot of ways of living with it, but when I face challenges and cannot get oxygen, it is out of my control. I have to take other means to get my oxygen. That is the story with no smoking.