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WAI‘Ele Contact): 'Wednnday. August ll, zuio - a “bu may be unit I ”m'flfim \W-V m7 "“"' l mmmknov tartan ”3.3,, *; mayhem su.sn.mo 510.147.2703 M,_.,cc,,--.__wd_-fi N. be.“ ," j Lil t n It mmw H“; W‘ A 81 [10 beril lg tale O I O O O I Waterloo native shares his battle to I mt smoking ma webtsodes on YouTube By 805 anac ‘ ‘ _ ‘ _ 3 _ _ The habit got so bad they averaged six to 12 smokes a day. 3 Chronicle Staff 4: 1 13,1, .; 1 . ;. .. ‘ g j "if ‘3 79.35.71,; ..‘ Fuhrman. who also has asthma, could barely walk a block to “ *â€"_*‘ â€" ‘â€" â€" ""_ “ _ ' ‘ " 35-h. “- 2.1. a; pig, without strugglingto catchhisbreath. eating an addiction can be tough. but imagine doing it in -' ....,1..:_é;~;._..yv .3; 2-1; _"? 3,34 » “At first, in my mind. I thought it wasn't the smoking. It Bfmntofthewholeworidandshanngeverytrialaridtnbulaâ€" «_ .,‘:’ 3‘_-g“.f_' 1 f; ' '3' L3iéwl‘i‘“ {i was the asthma that was causing my problems,” said tionyou go ummghwith anyonewho logson to Youmbe. grgfiéi. w 4.; 5&1?” 'i {3‘3251 ' Fuhrman. "l was using my inhaler two or three times a day. That's the unique experiment that Waterloo native KI " ‘~ ‘.I. “@4953 ., "l“: is". ” God forbid ifyou made merunanywhere. Fuhmian signed up for when he joined the Smober Up proj- . gig}, is, - {gig at; Twat,“ (g ' “Now I go to the gym. and walking a block doesn't make ect with his girlfriend Jaime Crowley and shot webisodes for ,. fifi“; f I" r 3.351;"- 1' _gmjf‘fj' me break into asweat.” aYouliibe channel that started airing June 21, at W}? 2:33 1‘ ‘ One of those webisodes detailed how he would do just The webisodes document why each of the eight partici- if .Lsifi” n g: 3“ Effiigga‘igé‘ that as he walked to work, coming in soaked from any little pants decided to quit smoking and the struggles they had in “I . “twigs 1‘1:in _ ‘ i . if; U: as“ 333:" if: exertion. . kicking the habit. The unique part of the production it that a .. "ft‘jéifgflt‘ ' "71:313. '8': “Ag; Fuhrman also was really into music and grew up singing lot of the episodes feature confessionals shot by each partic- : j~ . $13-35? f: " “ a..." .1 ‘2”? in choirs. But after the smoking started the singing stopped. ipant with a camcorder. at 3-114“ “‘ 3”“ 1;“; ‘ . ’ He just couldn't sustain the notes anymore. These highly personal accounts of moments when they f,'.?‘- ‘ “if ‘3 3 “It's after you start smoking, or you quit, that you notice feel the urge to fall off the wagon and the situations that if _,~ . ,~ the effects.” said Fuhrman. “I didn't even have the lung drive them there have built quite a following. It's in those 33 " ‘3" capacity to walka short distance.” . quiet times that the truth of beating an addiction really 35"” . 1"- "it just affected our whole lives, and you don’t really come out. 9" j ‘- , notice that until your real life starts again." "Those are the moments that people need to see." said g 3- . ‘ a -. But the couple kept putting off quitting until Fuhrman Fuhrman. “It‘s the time when you don't expect the addiction i j , said he heard through word of mouth that Johnson and to come up and kick you in the ass. then it does. 4 . Johnson. the company behind smoking cessation products . “To film that and share that right then and there and ‘ . ' ~ like Nicorette. was looking for participants in theSmober Up admit you‘re going insane was important. To have that cam- . i program. He decided to audition. era and be able to say, Look. l‘m going through this too.’ was ' ‘ - Jeff Bremy. a product manager for Johnson and Johnson. an amazing pan of the process." . . ‘ - i said the goal wasn't to hit people over the head with the The webisodes have had more than 100,000 hits and have .33. K . ‘» advertisement part of the program but to create a supportive sparked a two-way conversation about the challenges that ’ g, ' at; " environment and present people with some of the tools they come with quitting. There is also a Facebook page tying into 33; , - could use in quitting. ‘ the social media trend, that is buildingan airline community 4.? ’./ . ' ‘- "We feel it is our responsibility to not only provide the of support for people going through the same thing. It has i}: 37:5 product but to inspire Canadians to make that commit- already generated a lot of comments " merit.” said Brezny. “We wanted to provide them a place to “i just really hope that at the very least it plants the seed . in}, do that. in someone‘s brain and they say if they can do it we can do *3 ., “We wanted to create a community online where people it.“ said Fuhrman. “i wanted people to join along and quit ,2 . A could be as public or not public as they like to help each right along aside us. andwehad acouple ofthem do that. .. g . other quit smoking. We know that the more people talk “l've also got a few e~mails from people who have .43 -‘ about it. and with a little partnership with Nicorette. their watched the shows and relate to Jamie and I age-wise. .;'_; . chances ofquitting can greatly increase." Regardless of who it was I just wanted people to know it was 5:7 i3 :2: ' “This was what we‘ve been looking for," said Fuhrman. possible to quit smoking." .gj“ \ “This was the accountability that we wanted. We wanted Quitting was a big step for Fuhrman who had moved to : ,3 . ‘57:. , people to come up to us and tell us we can't smoke and that Toronto after graduating from Bluevale, and works as a video 3 a“ ‘ 3" . 11.133. '5 we couldn't cheat. We also had a responsibility to the people and TV editor. Even his own mother, Dawn Gibbons. didn‘t 5 this mgr}. who were following us that we had to do something." know he was a half -pack-a-day smoker. $§Nߤt‘ “» trV " They‘ve been smoke free since they stopped shooting the But he got tired of trying to hide the smelly clothes. the ; fi‘~"v E‘j’it ': webisodes, and Fuhrman said they've never been healthier. ‘ discarded butts and the other obvious evidence that accu- 5 ”f“ n..:=.: v ~ . , .. . ' . - . - ~ . 9e}...- ,- 5. "We wanted to show people no matter who they are. what mulates when you get into a bad habit. Waterloo native to Fuhrman decided to share his battle with they do or where they live. there are people out there who “ Every time she came to visit or every time i visited her it addiction with the world in a series of webisodes on can help you," said Fuhrman. was just such an ordeal to hide it from her that it didn't have YouTube he hopes helps other people quit. summer) more “You don't have to chain yourself to the bed for a week in to be." said the 24-year-old. "We'd have to vent our house order to quit smoking. and crack open all the windows and Febreeze the living hell “The habit just snowballed from there.” he said. “We wanted to put our story out there and say if K] and out of the place just to get it 'Mom ready." He met his girlfriend, Jaime. while she was studying at the Jaime can do it, I can too. We hope that at least one person Fuhrman said he started smoking when he went to col- University of Waterloo and she also got pulled into social latches onto it. That will make it worth it." lege and it became pan of the social milieu ofthe people he smoking circle. “That's when it went from being a social For more about the Smober Up program check out was hanging around. thing to being an everyday. whenever thing.” said Fuhman. YouTube and the program’s Facebook page. an ‘ -.‘ \/OC> l’i 1 v ...\“ “V‘L‘ LO\ i.’ In s. Hg 1 to. nah» a Dem nix; [ 1| EERS I) E C O R ATl N G “' â€"â€"sr Dr‘strw (‘I-N'rursâ€" 583 King St. N.. Waterloo . . y 1 ' (519) 772-1127 -_. L" I 4 Kltohonor 677 am Ave w. (5195 578-5330 II - HZOVlctoriaSt N,(519)576-7576 sane-onAve.w4.(519)57oe200 ,