You don’t need to light a cigarette to suffer the consequences of smoking.
Just being around smokers, whether at the mamak, in the car, or at home, can slowly chip away at your health. One Malaysian woman knows this all too well.
Recently, a TikTok video by a woman named Sistihah (@sistihah00) went viral after she opened up about her experience of being diagnosed as a passive smoker, which means someone who doesn’t smoke but regularly breathes in secondhand smoke from others around them.
What started as unexplainable breathing difficulties quickly turned into something much more serious.
In the video, Sistihah revealed that she had to be rushed to the hospital due to a severe lung condition.
Things took a turn for the worse when doctors had to puncture both sides of her lungs. This happened twice in 2017, and another two times on the right side in 2019.
If someone dies from inhaling your vape or cigarette smoke, you’ll be held accountable in the afterlife,” she said in her post.
Her words didn’t just come from anger. They came from lived experience. In her caption, Sistihah urged others to learn from her story and be more mindful of how their habits affect others.
Studies show that long-term exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart disease and lung cancer. Please be aware. I’ve already gone through this. I hope you don’t have to,” she wrote.
The pain is something only God knows. Even now, I still suffer from nerve pain because I had to lie flat on my back for so long without being able to turn sideways.”
Thankfully, she shared that her health has gradually improved since then and clarified that the incident occurred before she got married.
Her story struck a nerve with netizens
After her video gained traction, many Malaysians took to the comments to show support and vent their frustrations.
One user wrote:
“It’s so sad. Someone else smokes and you’re the one who ends up suffering. I pray everything gets better for you, and that the ones who smoke will find the strength to quit.”
Others didn’t hold back when expressing how inconsiderate public smokers can be, especially in open-air eateries and shared spaces.
“I get so annoyed when I’m eating at a restaurant and people nearby start smoking. I always tell them, ‘If you want to smoke, please do it somewhere far away.’ I don’t care if it causes an argument. They clearly don’t respect others,” one woman shared.
On the flip side, a few former smokers chimed in too, acknowledging how their perspective changed after quitting.
“Only after quitting did I realise how bad cigarettes smell. When I was smoking, I couldn’t even tell. Now, I can’t stand the smell. I hope more people quit, for their own sake and for the people around them,” one man added.
