KATE NEWTON
There is an encouraging interest from Hawke's Bay people wanting to quit smoking.
The Quit Group has started collecting figures on the number of smokers calling Quitline in each region.
Napier woman Louise Giddens was one of 249 smokers who called Quitline in the last three months. Most were aged between
25 and 44.
There were 7348 registered callers nationwide.
Ms Giddens, 39, had been smoking for 22 years. It started off as an "after school thing" when she was a teenager until eventually 20 cigarettes were going up in smoke each day.
"And then bingo, last Christmas I told everyone I was going to quit so I couldn't back out," Ms Giddens said.
She decided she wanted to quit by September 11, 2005, four years after the terrorist attacks in New York.
Ms Giddens was meant to be travelling to New York for work the day of the attacks but had ended up in Chicago.
"It was a dreadful day so I said to myself right that's going to be the day I will remember for the rest of my life so I might as well quit smoking on that day."
She felt she had been given a second lease on life so wanted to make the most of it.
"Even though it's four years later," she laughed. "But when I put my mind to something I actually do it."
So a month before September 11 rolled around this year Ms Giddens called Quitline.
"They're nice people and all caring, brilliant ladies," she said.
The subsidised patches have made it easy for her to wean herself off the cigarettes.
"They are brilliant. They give you the nicotine and are a good excuse to not need a ciggy."
The $80-$100 a week she was spending on cigarettes is now going into wedding plans.
Now working at a restaurant and bar in Hastings as the front of house manager, Ms Giddens said she was much more productive and didn't need as many breaks.
"And I'm finding I'm healthier. I can now pump up the steps on Napier Hill."
