Neil O’Loghlen, a laryngeal cancer survivor, relies on a hole in his neck to breathe. Photo: Eddie Jim
Quit has launched a new advertising campaign highlighting the range of cancers associated with smoking.
The campaign eschews the gruesome imagery of previous advertisements to focus on the way the quality of life of cancer sufferers is affected.
Scenes in the 30-second television advertisement show a stomach cancer patient filling a feeding tube at the family dinner table and a tearful lung cancer patient receiving the grim diagnosis from his doctor.
The campaign, which will also run on radio, is based on international research that has found 16 cancers are linked to smoking, including mouth, liver, stomach, bowel and cervical cancer.
“Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Australia and these figures are a reminder that we must do everything we can to encourage and support smokers to quit,” he said.
When Neil O’Loghlen was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer more than 20 years ago, his voice box had to removed. He relies on a hole in his neck to breathe and has lost his sense of taste and smell.
The one-time 40-a-day smoker cannot use his vocal cords to speak but has learnt to make sounds by pushing air from his lungs through a valve in his neck and into his mouth.
“If I see someone smoking, I say, ‘If you were wise, son, you’d give that away because the only reason I’m like this is through tobacco’,” he said