February Health Hero Larry Purdy saved $300 a month when he quit smoking.
Larry Purdy of Unionville, Mo., has been a trucker for 35 years and a two-pack-a-day smoker since he was 14 years old. The owner-operator, leased to Daily Express, had tried to quit over the years but had never been successful. Finally, on April 5, 2007, Larry and his wife Veronica decided this would be their last day as smokers. They figured they’d join forces and quit together. It wasn’t easy, but they were motivated for a variety of reasons. Larry says he was sick of waking up in the morning with a hacking cough, hated the stale smell of smoke in his truck and resented spending the $300 a month to support his habit. In fact, once he quit buying cigarettes, he put that money toward buying a motorcycle. “I finally got the Harley-Davidson I always wanted,” he says. “That was a gift to myself for quitting smoking.”
While he’s tried and failed to quit before, this time his doctor prescribed a new drug, Chantix, which helps reduce cravings. After only a few weeks, Larry says he was able to walk around his truck without coughing and regained his senses of taste and smell.
Like many who quit smoking, Larry gained weight. “I know I started eating more, but I’m working on that now,” he says. He doesn’t want to trade one bad habit for another but feels confident he’s never going back to cigarettes. “It was such a hard thing to do, no way are we ever going to start that again.”
How long have you been driving?
34 years.
What was the biggest challenge in quitting smoking?
