The effects of smoking have had a massively adverse impact across a huge amount of Ireland's population.
Even elite sportspeople, such as former Dublin forward and Hill 16 legend Vinnie Murphy, have struggled with it for years, and now it's something he's trying to resolve once and for all. In our upcoming video series, the Donaghmede man will document his quitting journey.
The HSE has made supporting smokers to quit smoking a priority with their QUIT campaign. If you are reading this and are a smoker, chances are you want to QUIT because 70% of smokers do. You may be thinking about quitting and you may have tried before.
In fact, most smokers make a few attempts before they QUIT for good. Like Vinnie, you might even be a little worried that even though you want to, you can’t do it. But no matter how you are feeling about quitting, the HSE’s free QUIT service has helped thousands QUIT and can help you too. Remember this service is free of charge and proven to work!
Vinnie Murphy is going to play a key role in this #KicktheHabit campaign over the next few weeks. He will be the central figure in a series of episodes which will chart his efforts to QUIT.
QUIT will provide help and support services to help him kick the habit once and for all. The first episode, entitled 'The Battle', introduces us to Vinnie the father, the coach, and the person beyond just the former darling of the Hill.
Vinnie took up smoking as a teenager. He was an inspirational figure at full-forward for Dublin for 13 years, and was a part of the All-Ireland winning panel in 1995, and was an All-Star in 1992. Despite that great success, he freely admits the adverse impact that being a smoker had on his Gaelic football career.
If you relate to Vinnie's story and would also like to get free QUIT smoking support, call the QUIT Team on 1800 201 203 or sign up for a QUIT plan on www.QUIT.ie. Follow Vinnie’s progress by checking out Balls' Facebook page where you will get to track his efforts to kick the habit. On that note, you can engage with the campaign by posting updates from your own quitting regime by including #HurltheHabit in your tweets.
