People who have given up smoking are being invited to go online and share their thanks with the family of Gerry Collins, who has featured prominently in the HSE's QUIT campaign in recent years.

March 2 is the first year anniversary of Gerry's death from lung cancer. He was aged just 57. He originally starred in an ad for the HSE in 2011, during which he explained that he had taken up smoking because it was ‘the cool thing to do'.

Despite giving up smoking, he was later diagnosed with lung cancer. He was treated for the disease and believed he had beaten it, however in 2013, he was told the cancer had returned and it was terminal.

Following this diagnosis, Gerry took the brave decision of fronting another anti-smoking campaign for the HSE during which he said that ‘if one in every two smokers are killed by cigarettes, I thought I was a two. I thought I got away with it, but now I discover that I am a one'.

"I wish I had stopped smoking earlier, I really do. My life would have been totally different," he said in the powerful ad.

According to Dr Stephanie O'Keeffe, the HSE's national director of health and wellbeing, Gerry and his family made a ‘courageous and unique contribution to the health and wellbeing of our society by allowing Irish people to share their most difficult days during 2013 and 2014'.

"By working with us on the QUIT campaign to create hard-hitting and powerful anti-smoking ads, they have created a legacy of which Gerry was and would continue to be very proud. I would like to express my sincere thanks to his family and friends on Gerry's anniversary for the enormous contribution they have made to reducing tobacco use in Ireland," she said.

Meanwhile, according to the HSE's national tobacco lead, Dave Molloy, the response to Gerry's bravery ‘has been extraordinary'.

"Based on uptake of services, we estimate that over 200,000 quit attempts were made in Ireland since the ads commenced. We also know that the number of smokers reduced in 2014 by 70,000 smokers - the largest decrease seen since 2009. We know that Gerry has saved lives and helped many people avoid the pain, illness and loss that are caused by smoking," Mr Molloy stated.

The HSE is sharing a short film made last year about Gerry's experience on its Facebook page and it is inviting anyone who was touched by Gerry's message, or who managed to quit smoking after seeing his story, to watch and share their thanks online with his family.

See Gerry's film here

For more information on quitting smoking, click here