EXTRA MILER: Women helping Southern Indiana beat the habit

By CAROL DAWSON
Extra.Milers@newsandtribune.com

June 07, 2008 07:33 am

— Our society discusses the diversity of generations ad infinitum. However, some things just do not change from one generation to the next.
With each new set of wee little ones, we idealistically believe they will become more progressive thinkers than ourselves. We then feel helpless as we observe our future citizens emulate those behaviors we would prefer they shun.
One nasty habit many pass on to our young adults is cigarette smoking. In walk our June Extra Milers: Andrea Hannah, Regina DeCaro, Dana Nieman and Susan Gilmore. These women have no intention of silently watching our young adults take up this addiction.
They are each actively working with the Clark County Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Coalition to ensure our children — and adults — have the information and tools they need to make intelligent decisions about smoking and their health.
Susan, Dana, Regina and Andrea work tirelessly to get the facts out about the dangers of cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke. They do this, despite the negative responses they often receive while converting their passion into action.
A few weeks ago, I attended an event on the Star of Louisville which was organized by these Extra Milers. The event, Influence: Women’s Toxic Relationship with Tobacco, sponsored by the coalition, was well attended by a diverse group of women. Those attending learned about special campaigns by the tobacco companies focused on attracting our young women as new smokers. Come on … jewelry in cigarette cartons!
Andrea “Andi” Hannah, a retired registered nurse, is the coalition’s coordinator. The coalition is tasked as being the local source for tobacco education, cessation services, youth prevention and tobacco-free policy advocacy. When Andi was asked why she has taken on such a heavy task, she replied: “My passion for this work developed within this job, as I learned about the breadth of the impact of tobacco.”
Regina DeCaro, manager for the Clark Memorial Hospital Lois Kratz Wellness Center, assisted with the event, but has not always been a healthy woman. Regina had personal reasons for her involvement.
“I started smoking when I was a teenager, and was up to two to three packs a day at age 29 – and then I met Tony DeCaro.” Regina sighs, then quickly adds, “Realizing I wanted a long and happy life with Tony, I knew the cigarettes needed to go.”
Regina’s story has a happy ending. She quit smoking 17 years ago. She lost the cigarettes, but kept the man of her dreams.
Dana Nieman, program assistant for the coalition, was looking for a position that made a positive difference in lives and believes she found it.
Dana said, “By far, my favorite part of this job is helping people to quit tobacco.”
She believes most smokers would prefer to quit, however are often unsuccessful without assistance.
Dana explains, “Sometimes people need is a little reassurance they can succeed and some suggestions regarding how to make simple changes that give them more control over their addiction to nicotine.”
Susan Gilmore, marketing and public relations specialist for Clark Memorial Hospital also was directly involved in planning the Influence event.
“The evening was a great opportunity to educate women in our community on bringing about healthy smoking cessation and prevention changes in their spheres of influence,” she said.
The Influence event included several local women who were asked to discuss how cigarettes have affected their lives. Tammy Bratcher told the group she started smoking as a 9-year-old child. She and her husband, Kevin, attended smoking cessation classes organized by the coalition and both quit — forever.
At the end of the program, a young female server asked for information to stop smoking. She explained that she heard her own life story when Bratcher spoke, adding that she started smoking as a 10-year-old child. The event made an immediate impact.
I was also a speaker that night, reflecting on how cigarettes have affected my personal life. My beloved father passed away from lung cancer (a lifelong smoker); my mother, a nonsmoker who inhaled secondhand smoke most of her life, now has the early stages of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and Jeff, my 22-year-old son, is trying to quit — his efforts are making his mother proud.
As I spoke of the needless pain this habit has caused so many, I began to cry. Andi touched my shoulder and whispered, “Go on, it doesn’t matter — people need to see the pain.”
Andi, Dana, Regina and Susan — thank you for working to bring about value to so many lives and for being Southern Indiana Extra Milers.

Carol A. Dawson is a resident of Jeffersonville and owner of EEO GUIDANCE, Inc. If you have seen or been a part of an act of kindness or know an EXTRA MILER, please let her know about it. To submit a story or act of kindness, contact Carol via e-mail: Extra.Milers@newsandtribune.com or mail: THE EXTRA MILERS, The Evening News, 221 Spring St., Jeffersonville, IN, 47130-3340.

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