Jump to full article: Independent Newspapers Ltd. / STUFF (nz), 2006-02-09
Intro: Tearful video evidence from Janice Pou recorded while she was dying of lung cancer was played to the High Court in Auckland yesterday.
Pou, 51, was suing two tobacco companies when she was filmed on video at her Dunedin Hospital bed three years ago. . . .
In the video, Pou was propped upright in bed while being cross-examined by the defendants - British American Tobacco (NZ) and WD and HO Wills.
She spoke in a croaky whisper, between gasps for breath and gulps of water, describing how she was a "shy and introverted" teenager with a "poor self-image".
She said the cigarette advertising in the 1960s lured her into believing smoking was universal and sophisticated.
Tobacco companies had failed to warn her of the dangers associated with cigarette smoking, she said.
She broke down in tears when she described the "nightmare" she had lived with since being diagnosed with terminal cancer June 2001.
"No words are strong enough (to describe) a mixture of fear and sadness," Pou said.
"It makes me feel sick at heart when I think of all the events, weddings, birthdays, Christmases and the arrival of more grandchildren that I'll miss ... I love life."
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