Debi Austin, Woman Who Inspired Anti-Smoking Campaign In The '90s Is Back

The woman who inspired thousands to give up cigarettes more than 15 years ago by smoking one through a tracheotomy hole in her throat for an ad campaign is back for another round of anti-smoking advocacy.

Debi Austin, now 60 years old and smoke-free, frightened a generation of adolescents into reconsidering the deadly habit back in 1997. According to The Denver Post, California officials are bringing Austin back to campaign against smoking once again.

Austin told The Post:

"The worse I look, the more impact I have on my audience. If I walked in with a scarf over my neck, it wouldn't send home nearly the impact than if they saw [the hole in my throat]."

Los Angeles Times reports that Austin started smoking at 13 and remained a heavy smoker -- averaging two- to three- packs a day -- even after her laryngectomy in 1992. Months after the ad aired, though, Austin stopped.

WATCH:

Since the state-sponsored advertisement aired, her health has deteriorated. From breast cancer surgery and the removal of intestines to her current battle with stomach cancer and emphysema, Austin has struggled. But she's using that pain to share her story, and has traveled the world to do it.

The new ads could shock the public all over again, according to The Post.

In one new ad, a young girl preens in front of a mirror, pretending to smoke a cigarette. A computer-generated tracheotomy hole appears on her neck and the commercial fades into Austin telling her story, accentuating her labored breathing and speech.

Read more about Austin's message at The Denver Post or visit Protect the Truth to learn facts about smoking for yourself.

Comments

[Joe Henderson]

10:54 PM on 01/17/2011

This advertisement is offensive. It portrays people with tracheostomies as monsters. I was watching TV with my teenaged son when this ad came on. He has had a tracheostomy since he was two years old. He wouldn't be alive without it. I was horrified by the ad and unable to turn off the TV before the end. I am sorry he had to see it and I hope that his peers at school won't see it either.

[Wyatt Phoebe]

01:32 PM on 01/10/2011

That is disturbing........

[Kelly Kc]

05:17 AM on 01/10/2011

New Ad Shocks but Educate People: Smoking through a Hole in Her Neck!

[david5000]

03:25 PM on 01/09/2011

I was in intensive care after a transplant surgery and the man beside me had his life support turned off, he was a smoker with no lungs left.

The sounds he made when he was dying and gasping for air was too much to bear until they started pumping him with sedatives to go peacefully.

No amount of video or pictures tops this horrific sound of not been able to breathe .

Smokers should visit the ICU to see and hear for themselves.

[Nick Mroz]

02:33 PM on 01/09/2011

Angry non-smokers hurt their own cause by being extremely adversarial. If they really believe in their cause then they need to work a more marketable route instead of scare campaigns that have been running for the past 30+ years.

It is like Einstein said, "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

[Casey Yardley]

03:15 PM on 01/09/2011

What is "Angry" about this? I don't care if people smoke, i only care if they smoke around me.
I will be "angry" about second hand smoke. If someone wants to damage their health, that is their business. But as soon as they start effecting the health of non-smokers, I think we have justification for being "angry".

[Nick Mroz]

04:22 PM on 01/09/2011

My comment was more about the sideline issue of the ad campaigns and comments about the venom of some anti-smoking advocates or from smoking ban proponents. I can understand some of the anger toward being around someone smoking however if they chose to be in a bar with permissible smoking -- they assume the risk. Some believe they should also be able to force everyone compliant to their preferences and there is where comment is targeted.

[BrianPK80]

07:12 PM on 01/09/2011

I don't want an obese person influencing my children with their (VISIBLY) bad habits.

[Quaid33]

03:28 PM on 01/09/2011

I recently made the decision to quit smoking after seeing a human lung riddled with emphysema. It was a personal decision that was not influenced by anyone but myself (and the lungs of an individual who died of lung cancer). I believe that is the only way to stop smoking; to make a conscious personal decision to quit. However, I agree that some non-smokers are too pushy and abrasive when approaching non-smokers. This can facilitate an us versus them environment that is counter-productive. We all know the consequences of our actions, but nobody likes being told what they can and cannot do.

[Nick Mroz]

04:26 PM on 01/09/2011

That's exactly my point and very well said by you. We all have freedom to choose and I prefer to have the choice. I am not the average smoker - I barely smoke in the first place. I have a cigar in the humidor a year old even. I don't see why we can not all agree to compromise that the business has the final say whether they want to allow smoking or not allow smoking. It seems simple enough, but for some that is far from enough.

[toomany]

05:26 PM on 01/09/2011

If I give you two drinks and tell you one of them have a poison in it and I suggest you take the one without the poison, would you take the one with poison?
Noone is telling you what to do besides your own addiction but people are trying to HELP you stop doing something that will very likely kill you in a horrible way and at a too young age. You've been conned to think smoking is something rebellous when it is nothing of the sort, it's just plain stupid.

[beyondliberal]

01:54 PM on 01/09/2011

I think the ad would have had much more impact if the woman had used an electrolarynx instead of the excellent esophageal speech she is able to produce.
People need to realize that laryngeal cancer permanently destroys the voice; not everyone is a candidate to learn esophageal speech.

[quidam56]

01:13 PM on 01/09/2011

What does it matter when we have smokestacks belching CO2 and a 1000 tons per day of explosives being used in people's back yards to blow up the Appalachian Mountains ? Kids don't need to be breathing this, they can go into McDonalds and breathe air in a non smoking restaurant, then step outside and get little lungs full of toxins, coal dust and rock dust. www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=138

[palindrom]

01:54 PM on 01/09/2011

Of course those are terrible things, but cigarette smoke goes straight to peoples' lungs, and it's arguably a much worse public health problem.

[patrickmcdougal]

01:11 PM on 01/09/2011

sounds like she had a predestined course to getting cancer.

[1logicalthinker]

02:22 PM on 01/09/2011

Sounds like you're a smoker :)

[Lagunatic]

01:09 PM on 01/09/2011

I started smoking in the service, when a carton of cigarettes cost $1.25. That's right, $1.25 per carton, 12.5 cents per pack.

I smoked for 19 years, from the age of 19 to the age of 38. I'm now 60; 22 years as an ex-smoker.

Do whatever it takes to quit. Life is so much better without cigarettes.

[phill273]

11:56 AM on 01/09/2011

I'm glad that they're taking a demand orientated approach to combat the problem. Supply-side approaches only result in black markets.

[sizogee]

11:24 AM on 01/09/2011

E-Cigarettes success stories:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/e-cigarette-success-stories/

Electronic cigarettes are currently estimated to be between 100 and 1000 times less harmful than cigarettes because there is no smoke and none of the 4000+ chemicals in regular cigarettes. They contain fog machine stuff, flavoring, and nicotine (if you choose). Many people find it trivially easy to quit smoking after trying e-cigs, including me. I enjoy it more than I did smoking, and I *loved* smoking.

Nicotine is probably bad. Maybe only as bad as caffeine, maybe 2 to 10 times worse. But its affects on health pale in comparison to the affects of smoking. Overeating is probably much more dangerous than nicotine sans smoke.

Some benefits:
Health!
No smell, unless you're using a fruity flavor which is sometimes marginally detectable (and pleasant)
No second-hand smoke
Some places let you use them indoors
You get to keep the hand-to-mouth action, "throat hit", and you can blow vapor rings :P

(Oh -- don't buy them at a mall kiosk! Try one of the $10 or $20 ones at 7/11, then buy a better one online if you like it. The forum I linked to above is an invaluable resource.)

I probably sound like an advertisement, but these things could potentially save *millions* of lives. They may be the most important public health invention in a long time.

[Keth30]

01:04 PM on 01/09/2011

I currently am cigarette free since april 2010 because of the e cigarette! Woohoo!

[Nick Mroz]

02:26 PM on 01/09/2011

E-cigarettes are great - I own one. But can someone develop the real deal taste of tobacco like cigar, cigarette and pipe tobacco!? I mean that's the main reason why I still hit up a cigar or pipe now and then. Other than that It is a really awesome device. :)

[TrotskyMemo]

11:23 AM on 01/09/2011

One of the biggest reasons I think it is so hard for people to quit the habit is the increased appetite. Since I quit three weeks ago, I must have put on 3 pounds! It's vicious, mainly because being skinny and smoking a cigarette is a much more comfortable image to hold than the alternative one.

[ivoteforsmartpeople]

11:27 AM on 01/09/2011

Well, you can keep smoking and let the Chemo help you Not Get Fat when you are Forced to quit!

[patrickmcdougal]

01:13 PM on 01/09/2011

you aren't ever forced to quit. I hate angry anti-smoking people!!!!

[LynnyC]

03:02 PM on 01/09/2011

not everybody who is a life lung smoker gets cancer. My grandfather smoked for over 50 years and his only health problems are due to him being over 90 years old. Your hate and fear mongering don't change the facts that not everybody is effected by smoke the same way.

[Anpan]

11:35 AM on 01/09/2011

You should also know that nicotine is a powerful painkiller, so you are likely--know it or not--in a lot of discomfort. Food helps ease that, too. If you can afford it, try massage or acupuncture. Both are proven to change the way your body processes sensory information. They will help your nervous system cope with being so 'exposed' without the nicotine. Meditation/mindfulness can be a less-costly way of helping yourself.

Also, watch out for respiratory infections! The mucus in your lungs from the constant smoke has been capturing viruses and bacteria for you, so your immune system is out of shape.

Be good to yourself! Everyone I know who gained weight from stopping smoking did lose it within a year.

[bllnsinchnge]

11:21 AM on 01/09/2011

Nicotine is highly addictive. Remember smoking/ chewing/ pipes/ dipping /cigars are all forms of delivery for nicotine. Do not use the gum or the patch, you are only promoting painful withdrawal and deficiency symptoms. You have to stop completely, I craving at a time. I used Nicotine for 26 years in all of those forms. I have been completely nicotine free now for 103 days! However my use of sugar free dentyne has skyrocketed. I used the website whyquit dot com. it was very helpful, thanks guys!

[calilife4me]

11:26 AM on 01/09/2011

Great job!

[ivoteforsmartpeople]

11:40 AM on 01/09/2011

Actually I used the patch with different levels to quit 13 years ago and it worked great for me! As a Menthol smoker, I used sugar free mints when I needed that "rush" in the back of my throat after meals!

I definitely chose the patch over Gum, Inhalers, etc. though - so that I did NOT exchange one oral fixation for another! THAT does not work in my opinion, either!

The patch works because you are able to address the Behavioral and Habitual aspects of smoking without being in withdrawal at the same time. You know - lighting up EVERY TIME you pick up the phone, or get in the car, or after a meal or whatever. Once you change your behavior it is easier to wean off the nicotine in the patch.

My $.02!

[bllnsinchnge]

12:14 PM on 01/09/2011

It sounds like you were dedicated to the plan. Another option for folks, I never used a patch however. I was only trying to convey the fact the nicotine was the drug for me, the delivery method varied, but beating nicotine was the key. After 72 hours without nicotine, you body starts to decrease the physical cravings. After 2 months, i now go up to 3-5 hours at a time without a thought or crave. I have noticed I have more frequent, and more memorable dreams. I also seem to have deeper emotions, heartier laughs, deeper lows, perhaps due to blood sugar variance or dopamine levels.
Hopefully we can help save someone else's life!

[she343]

11:20 AM on 01/09/2011

I smoke and truly belieive it is not a healthy habit but I also think it is a handy judas goat for anything else we are exposed to
....resp. problems? live down wind of a garbage dump (or energy plant, etc) and you smoke---MUST BE THE SMOKI NG causing your problem!
Have a heart attack? lousy stressful job (or no job now!)-eat lousy food-never sleep-and smoke----MUST BE THE SMOKING caused your heart problems!

They came up with a much safer way to process tobacco (reduced bad stuff by about 90%)--not allowed to put it on the market--might encourage some folks not to quit!!
Gov. and industry making a fortune and anything happens blame it on those who smoke.

[tbone99]

12:16 PM on 01/09/2011

excuses , excuses

[patrickmcdougal]

01:17 PM on 01/09/2011

I agree.
I grew up across the Truck and Bus Plant in Flint with the imfamous Pink Sky that smelled of bananas. Smoking has been used as the cause of all lung related problems and I know that second hand smoke exposure is covering up the actual pollutants pumped into our system by industry.
If everyone stopped smoking tomorrow do you really believe that lung cancer rates would dramatically decrease? If you do than you have been fooled .

[toomany]

05:38 PM on 01/09/2011

Yeye.., says the addict.

[ZiloRS]

11:08 AM on 01/09/2011

Smoking really is among the most disgusting habits..

[TrotskyMemo]

11:12 AM on 01/09/2011

But it made Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn look so cool. And what could we do without Mad Men?

[ZiloRS]

11:21 AM on 01/09/2011

Actually I think it does look cool. I've always thought there was something mysterious and sexy about smoking, generally on television..but the weird thing is, I can't stand them in real life. They smell awful (it always amazed me how they could be in relationships with non-smokers), they start to look older, and it just makes them nasty to be around when they haven't gotten their "fix".

[infmom]

04:44 PM on 01/09/2011

Yeah, look at the film of Bette Davis smoking and then look at pictures of Bette Davis in later life. SO sophisticated.