THUNDER BAY – A year ago, Jessica Jurcik was given a choice – quit smoking or her doctor was going to have to cut out part of her stomach.
Just 26 at the time and a smoker for 10 years, it was an easy decision to make said Jurcik, who plans to get married this summer.
“It was time to quit and I feel great, so much better,” she said on World No Tobacco Day on Wednesday at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, where together with officials from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit a new smoking cessation online tool was launched.
Jurcik lent her face to the campaign, appearing in one of a series of posters depicting every day people sharing their quitting stories.
There are plenty of reasons to want to stop smoking, she added.
“You’re just wasting money. You really have no quality of life. It’s not something that is socially acceptable, really, anymore. People are putting a taboo on smoking and it makes you feel bad about yourself,” Jurcik said.
Forty-eight-year-old John Susin, who appears in one of the videos, said the toll smoking took on his father, combined with his own health issues, convinced him it was time to give up smoking.
“I would have major coughing fits until I felt I would pass out, which motivated me to quit,” Susin said. “About six months after smoking, my dad was outside puffing on a cigarette when he collapsed. We watched him suffer for five years before we sadly watched my dad leave this world.”
The website, www.nwquit.com, contains a number of testimonial videos of former smokers sharing their tales of quitting the habit, along with information, separated by community, to help those who want to stop smoking find the proper help.
Dan Depeuter, the health unit’s tobacco control area network co-ordinator said the site is invaluable in a region as large as Northwestern Ontario.
“People don’t always know where they can access services, especially in some of these smaller communities. They don’t know where they can get one-to-one services,” Depeuter said. “What we have on the site is a searchable database by community where you can find out where you can help where you live.”
The videos and posters were created to show the human side of smoking cessation, to create a connection.
“It’s really important for people to hear that it’s something they can do too,” he said. “We have people from our region and some of them have gone through some really difficult struggles. It’s a matter of keep trying until you find out what works for you, because everyone’s quit journey is different.”
