Secret Harbour mother Cheryl Steven was an on-and-off smoker for most of her 49 years of life, but after quitting in October 2016 she was compelled to share her experience with others.
Ms Steven became one of the twelve Western Australian stars of a new Cancer Council quit smoking campaign, ‘From every quitter to every smoker’, launched on February 15, after applying to a Facebook call-out.
In the television ads each person asks smokers: “If you can’t quit with me, don’t smoke around me.”
The campaign aims to help people quit by rallying the support of their loved ones, especially those who continue to smoke, after a 2015 Curtin University study found seeing ‘other people smoke’ was a key trigger to smoke, and one of the top barriers to quitting was knowing ‘loved ones are smokers’.
Ms Steven said she was compelled to participate in the campaign because quitting was still so fresh in her head.
“I started to get embarrassed of smoking, I thought people were looking at me, and socially, it wasn’t cool any more,” Ms Steven said.
“My son is so anti-smoking, so every time I’d light a cigarette out the back, he’d go ‘Mum what are you doing, putting all those toxins into your body?’
“It’s just the fact that it’s so expensive now, and what it does to your body is incredible, that shortness of breath when you’re exercising.”
Ms Steven’s involvement in the TV campaign led her husband Michael to quit, so now they are in it together: a prime example of the campaign’s core message.
“They used to just be around the house, and I’d have to wait for him to come back from having a smoke,” Ms Steven said.
“For him not to be smoking, the cigarettes are just not here, so you’re not thinking about them.”
Mr Steven said if one of the two of them was still smoking, it’d be harder.
“There’s nothing worse than one being a smoker and the other not being a smoker, especially when you go out and you’re the only person going out and having a smoke, and when you come back you stink,” he said.
Ms Steven said even when Mr Steven was still smoking, he wouldn’t smoke around her, and it was a big help on her path to quitting.
Ms Steven said the campaign had impact because instead of focusing on the illness, it turns quitting into a team effort.
“It’s focusing on every single person out there, smokers and non-smokers, it’s putting it socially, because it affects everyone,” she said.
To those who are trying to quit, Ms Steven said persistence is key.
“Even if you go back to it, every time you try, you’re getting that much closer to quitting,” she said.
“Don’t give up on it, and don’t see yourself as a failure, because the only time you are a failure is when you stop trying to quit.”
The campaign will be run on TV, radio, at outdoor locations such as petrol stations and will also include a prominent online component.
Smokers will be encouraged to create and share their own #PleaseHelpMeQuit posts throughout the campaign.
To talk to someone about quitting call the Quit line on 13 7848.
For confidential cancer-related information and support call Cancer Council 13 11 20.
