Welcome to the Super Stoppers Club, an honorary society that I started many years ago when I was a columnist for The Washington Post. I’m delighted to rejuvenate it on behalf of the American Lung Association.
The Super Stoppers Club recognizes and applauds people who have quit smoking cigarettes. They know it’s hard—but they know it has been worth it. They — and I — hope that their success will inspire other smokers to quit.
The first member of this edition of the Super Stoppers Club is Mark P. of Kentucky. His health history is long and challenging—four heart surgeries, high blood pressure, a brain aneurysm. Through it all, he smoked, despite pleading from his doctors.
Then one day in 2019, he ran into a friend who worked at the local hospital. She was helping to run American Lung Association Freedom From Smoking classes. “I decided, what the heck, I’ll give it a shot,” Mark says.
Shot successful.
“A week into the class, I smoked my last cigarette…. I feel so much better. I breathe better, and my blood pressure is the best it’s been in over 30 years,” Mark says. Applause from your fellow quitters, Mark. Nice job.
Tom R. of Gettysburg, PA, is a proud graduate of the Lung Association’s Freedom From Smoking® (FFS) program. It “helped break the hold that cigarettes had on me,” he says. “I was able to go at my own pace” to quit, he says. “And the personal attention of quit smoking counselors made me what I am today—smokefree!”
Ronald G. of Lexington, SC, had tried many cessation programs, without success. But then, like Tom R., he tried Freedom From Smoking “It was the only program to have ever worked,” he says. Nothing succeeds like success, Ronald. Good work.
Please be on the lookout for the next edition of the Super Stoppers Club. If you’re a quitter, or you know someone who is, I’d be grateful for full details. Please submit your story on this page.
In the meantime, congratulations again to our stoppers. May their examples be fruitful and multiply.
Blog last updated: August 25, 2023
