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Andy Colon: Motivated for Better Health

June 8, 2017
Andy Colon decided to quit his tobacco addiction and went all out to create a healthier lifestyle for himself. He changed the way he ate, exercised more and, of course, stopped smoking. A friend told him about the Wellness@Work Tobacco Cessation program and Andy loved the idea of getting the...

John (Matt) Lawrence: Perseverance Pays Off

November 29, 2016
Matt Lawrence came to the Wellness@Work Program dipping a can of tobacco every day, having made multiple “practice attempts” without sustaining abstinence. He hated the control that tobacco exerted over him. In his position as Deputy Fire Chief, he wanted to be a good role model and had become weary...

Susan Hinson: “I can hang out with my grandchildren”

November 29, 2016
May 2, 2017 will mark two years of Susan Hinson’s quitting cigarettes, and is also the due date for her first grandchild! She feels excited about the baby’s arrival and also pleased that she doesn’t have to worry about her smoking affecting the child.

Erin Barringer: My Reason for Quitting

August 23, 2016
Erin Barringer, a nursing assistant in the Neurosciences Hospital, began smoking socially in 10th grade, and over the years she increased her smoking to one-half pack of cigarettes a day. She continued at this level until 2010 when she found out she was pregnant. She remained tobacco free through her...

Matthew Englund: “There is No Shame in Getting Help”

January 5, 2016
January 26, 2016 will be two years since Matt Englund has been tobacco free. This wasn't Matt’s first attempt at quitting, but he says it’s his last. Four years prior, he quit for a year without using any medication. He used the “Delay” method. (When you crave a cigarette, delay,...

Lana Simons: Proud of her Accomplishment

September 3, 2015
Lana Simons, a Chapel Hill Transit employee, has been tobacco free for 2½ years! She says it’s a “nicer way to live,” not having cigarettes as part of her life, and she is proud of herself for doing it.

Howard Sutton–Poet in Motion

July 20, 2015
Howard Sutton, clinical support technician in the Department of Anesthesia, enrolled in the Tobacco Free Tar Heels program three years ago. Today he is tobacco free.When Howard Sutton enrolled in the Tobacco Free Tar Heels (TFTH) program three years ago, stress in his life seemed to be the biggest barrier...

Rebecca Langham: Smoke free means a lot more free time

April 9, 2015
When nursing assistant Rebecca Langham enrolled in UNC Health Care System’s Tobacco Free Tar Heels (TFTH) program, she had been smoking a pack of cigarettes daily since she was 16 years old. Today, thanks to TFTH and her own personal dedication, she's tobacco free.

Robb English: Proud to answer “No” when his doctor asked, “Do you use tobacco products?”

February 19, 2015
Robb English, the Aquatics Supervisor in Chapel Hill’s Parks and Recreation Department, dipped almost a can of tobacco a day when he came to the Wellness at Work Tobacco Free Employee Program. As a teenager who played sports, Robb says that dipping tobacco was part of the culture, less overt...

Carol Battaglia: “No one size fits all strategy”

December 15, 2014
Smoking on and off since I was thirteen, I’d tried every trick in the book to stop. Every attempt ended in failure, whether it was stopping cold turkey or gradually with the help of medication. I became, as the old joke goes, an expert on quitting. After all, I’d done...