Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class James Stenberg | Retired Army Sergeant 1st Class Jerry Evatt explains the significance of the art...... read more read more
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Sept. 17 has been an annual day of celebration for retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Evatt for the past six years.
That day isn’t the birthday of one of his grandchildren or the day he retired from the Post Office. It’s the day he last smoked a cigarette and came face to face with “Death.”
Like many young men in the 1960s, Evatt was drafted into the Army. He retired after 20 years of service, but unfortunately developed a bad habit during his Army career.
“I smoked some as a teenager, but started heavy smoking in the military,” said Evatt. “Cigarettes were cheap back then and the majority of soldiers smoked. I could buy a carton of cigarettes for around a dollar, and they even came in our C-rations.”
By the time the first Surgeon General’s warning appeared on a pack of cigarettes in 1970, Evatt was a full time smoker. At the height of his smoking, he was going through a minimum of two packs a day and all three of his children became smokers. Despite declining health and warnings from his doctors to quit, Evatt kept smoking.
“I knew it was bad for me, but I couldn’t stop,” said Evatt. “You get use to the taste of cigarettes and want it.”
Evatt started and ended everyday by smoking a cigarette in his bed. He smoked every time he got in his truck and every time he used his computer. Even after Evatt was placed on oxygen, he continued to smoke. He even smoked while wearing his oxygen mask.
Despite a constant cough and respiratory problems, it was the constant drain on his bank account that made Evatt think about quitting. By 2009, he was spending $300 a month on cigarettes.
On Sept. 17, 2009, Evatt finally got the motivation he needed to quit smoking.
He woke that morning and did not feel well. He decided to go see his doctor at Naval Hospital Pensacola (NHP) and knew he would probably have to stay there for a few days. After packing an overnight bag, Evatt sat down to eat breakfast. Breathing was getting harder and harder and Evatt knew he was in trouble. He called 911 and told the operator, “I can’t breath.”
Within minutes, the paramedics arrived and prepared to take Evatt to the hospital. As he was being taken out of his home on a gurney, he once again succumbed to the additive power of cigarettes.
“As I was being taken out my front door, I reached out and grabbed my pack of cigarettes and lighter,” said Evatt. “The paramedic looked at me and just shook his head.”
After being placed in the ambulance, Evatt told the paramedics to take him to Naval Hospital Pensacola despite other hospitals being closer.
“My doctor was at [at Naval Hospital Pensacola] and that’s where I wanted to go,” said Evatt.
Those were the last words Evatt spoke before slipping into a coma due to viral pneumonia for two weeks. While in that coma, Evatt had a life-changing encounter that convinced him to never smoke a cigarette again.
“I met ‘Death,’” said Evatt. “He appeared to me as a well-dressed man out of nowhere. He reached his hand out and said, ‘Follow me.’ I asked to where and he said, ‘It doesn’t matter, just follow.’ I told him, ‘I think I will stay here,’ and then he was gone as quickly as he appeared. If I had taken his hand, I wouldn’t be here today.”
While Evatt was in a coma, doctors at NHP placed a nicotine patch on him to start his process of quitting smoking for good. After two weeks at NHP and another week at another facility, Evatt returned to his home. Now the true test for his commitment to quit smoking would begin.
“I didn’t really have any urges while I was in the hospital,” said Evatt. “It wasn’t until I got back into a normal routine that I got the urge to smoke again. When I got into my truck, I would reach into my pocket for a pack of cigarettes that wasn’t there. It was just habit.”
To help fight those urges, Evatt decided to use a monetary incentive to keep him on the right path. On the 17th day of every month, he went to the bank and withdrew three $100 dollar bills that he placed in a safe in his home. When the urge to smoke came, he would take out the money and count it. First it was $300, then $600, $900, $1,200… After six months, he had reached $1,800 and hadn’t smoked a cigarette. He decided to reward himself with something he could never afford when he was smoking.
“I used that money to take a trip to West Virginia to see my grandchildren,” said Evatt. “I got to walk with them in the snow and even make home made maple syrup.”
Every September, Evatt returns to NHP to thank the staff for his new lease on life. This year, he sent a card that estimated how much money he would have spent on cigarettes in the past six years and how many cigarettes he would have smoked. He estimates he would have spent over $21,000 and smoked over 87,000 cigarettes since 2009. He did this to let the staff know just how appreciative he is of his health now.
“Naval Hospital Pensacola saved my life,” said Evatt. “I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else for my care.”
His encounter with death, improved health and monthly trip to the bank has led to an improved life for Evatt. No longer on oxygen, Evatt now takes full advantage of his new life and hopes to inspire others to quit smoking. In fact, he has already convinced at least one person to quit smoking: his banker. She hasn’t smoked for two years now.
Naval Hospital Pensacola provides individual and group tobacco cessation classes for all TRICARE beneficiaries who want to quit smoking or using tobacco products. For more information on how to quit, call (850) 505-6749 or speak with your Medical Home Port Team.
| Date Taken: | 11.17.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 11.17.2015 09:47 |
| Story ID: | 182124 |
| Location: | PENSACOLA, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 216 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Encounter with ‘Death’ helped this smoker quit, by Jason Bortz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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