When A Man Locked His Head In Cage To Quit Smoking: Read Ibrahim Yucel's Story

Addiction of any kind is bad, and smoking addiction is among the worst. Quitting smoking is very difficult, requiring immense willpower and dedication. Despite significant efforts, only a small percentage of smokers successfully overcome their addiction.

Around 11 years ago, news of a man trying to quit smoking went popular on television and other mediums when he put a cage around his face to quit smoking. 

The Turkish man named Ibrahim Yucel caged himself in a helmet-shaped metal ball to quit cigarettes. 

In 2013, the newspapers reported that Ibrahim Yucel has been smoking for the last 26 years, and despite several attempts to quit, he couldn't break his two-packs-a-day dirty habit. Every year, on his three children's birthdays and on his wedding anniversary, he would give up cigarettes, but he never went more than a few days without them.

Although images and videos of him locking his head in a cage and giving his wife the key to open became viral, there is no concrete evidence available yet that he was able to quit smoking or not. 

This gentleman, Ibrahim Yucel, a Turkish man who was 42 years old at the time of the events, decided in 2013 to have his head locked in a cage with the intention of quitting smoking; his wife was the only one who had the keys and she only opened it during meals. pic.twitter.com/1LupljbfYp

— non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) November 7, 2024

According to the World Health Organisation, every year, more than 8 million people die from tobacco use. Most tobacco-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, which are often targets of intensive tobacco industry interference and marketing.

Tobacco can also be deadly for non-smokers. Second-hand smoke exposure has also been implicated in adverse health outcomes, causing 1.2 million deaths annually. Nearly half of all children breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke, and 65 000 children die each year due to illnesses related to second-hand smoke. Smoking while pregnant can lead to several life-long health conditions for babies.