A Whaitara mother’s desire to support her son turned into the start of her own hauora journey to becoming smokefree.
Sandy Ngarotata (Te Atiawa) thought she was visiting Tui Ora to accompany her son to an appointment that turned out to be for her!
“My son said ‘Mum I’ve made an appointment, just meet me at Tui Ora on Domett Street’ – and I did, but I thought we were going there for him!” she explained.
Instead, it was so Sandy could meet Tui Ora quit coach Carlene to hear about the stop smoking programme her son was having such success with.
“I didn’t know he tricked you into coming!” laughed Carlene, “You were quite staunch at first and you didn’t think anything would work, because you’d tried everything, so I just said how about I explain the programme and then you can make up your own mind,”
“At the end of the rundown, you asked if you could give me a hug!”
Sandy signed up there and then.
“I don’t think my son actually thought it would work, but I’ve been going ever since!” she said proudly.
Now 64, Sandy was born and raised in Whaitara and has memories of walking to the dairy with her sister when she was 15 to buy her mother cigarettes.
“I used to pinch one or two, but eventually she caught me and said if I wanted to keep smoking, I’d need to get a job to pay for it, so I did!”
From what started as a teenage act of rebellion eventually became a more expensive and routine habit for Sandy, and those around her.
“Some of my school mates would pinch some of my smokes and not share with me, because I was the only one who had a part time job and money, and that was hard. I did at that time start to think I should stop, but I never pushed it.”
“Then when my husband was alive, we used to have a pack of 30g each, so if he ran out he’d use some of mine, and if I ran out I’d use some of his,” she laughed.
“But as I got older, after my kids had grown up, I decided I was going to give up smoking,” she said.
Using a 28-day course of Nicobrevin capsules she had been able to kick the habit for nine months. Unfortunately, when she felt the urge to have a cigarette again and went back to use what had worked before, she found Nicobrevin had been taken off the market.
“So I was back to square one and I started smoking again,” she sighed.
Reflecting on what has helped her make the change this time, she explains it was a mixture of strong will, switching habits with healthier alternatives, and a lot of support from those around her.
“On 30 October, 2025, I made that stand – it was my last day of cigarettes!” she said.
“I woke up the next morning and instead of having a coffee and a cigarette, I had a drink of water and went over to the Salvation Army to tell the girls that if they see me trying to sneak off for a cigarette, to stop me!”
“When I told them I was doing a stop smoking programme, they’ve been pushing me and praising me. It’s been so good that they’ve been so supportive!”
“If you have a friend who doesn’t smoke, let them know that you’re giving up and they might be able to encourage and help you,” she advised.
When quizzed about what it feels like to be smokefree, Sandy is quick to list off the many benefits she’s noticed over the last few months.
“Your clothes smell so much fresher, your grandkids like to give you more cuddles, and your skin changes, it looks so much better!”
“I’ve got my appetite back! Now I’ll have a whole tin of baked beans when I could only ever have up to half. I never used to eat during the day; I’ve gone from 5.5 stone to 7.3, I’m aiming to get to 8.5 stone,” she said.
Along with the benefits being tobacco free brings, whānau is a big driver for her to stay smokefree, “I want to see my grandkids grow up!” she says.
“It’s been hard since my husband passed away seven years ago, I started smoking twice as much then, but now I’ve quit I know he’s up there saying ‘good on ya’!” she smiles.