Heather Crowe: I am dying of lung cancer from secondhand smoke (2002)

Heather died in Ottawa on May 21, 2006. She had lung cancer because of her exposure to secondhand smoke as a waitress. Watch on of her famous clips.
 Thank you so much Heather for your courage, your persistence, your commitment.
The Heather Crowe Campaign site.

Anti-smoking crusader Heather Crowe dies at 61

Last Updated Tue, 23 May 2006

CBC News:  Heather Crowe, the long-time waitress who contracted lung cancer from second-hand smoke and waged an anti-smoking campaign, has died at the age of 61.

Heather Crowe, who never smoked, contracted lung cancer after working for 40 years in bars and restaurants. She never smoked, but she was widely known for her television campaign in which she tells how she contracted cancer at the restaurant where she worked for 40 years.

She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002. She fought the disease into remission with chemotherapy, radiation and steroids, but ultimately lost the battle four years later.

Crowe was the first person to win a claim with the Ontario Workers Safety and Insurance Board for full compensation because her cancer was caused by occupational exposure to cigarette smoke.

"If I'd lost my hand at work they'd have paid me," she once said of the compensation award. "So if they're going to take chunks out of my lungs, why wouldn't I be entitled [to benefits]?"

Crowe's passing came one week before the Smoke Free Ontario Act took effect. The legislation bans smoking in any enclosed public places and restricts the promotion, handling and display of cigarettes in stores.

Jim Watson, the Liberal MPP for Ottawa-West-Nepean, was a frequent customer at the restaurant where Crowe worked. He called her the "matriarch of the anti-smoking movement."

"It's very sad that she's not going to be here to see [the legislation take effect], but she should be very happy that because of her influence, Ontarians will be able to breathe easier as a result of the legislation on May 31," Watson told Canadian Press.

Crowe was an unlikely activist. "She fell into this anti-smoking passion because she experienced first-hand what so many people have suffered over the years," he said.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty presented Crowe with an award named in her honour last December. The Heather Crowe Award will recognize the efforts of individuals and organizations in promoting a smoke-free Ontario.

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FROM OCT. 10, 2002: Server with cancer focus of new anti-smoking ads 
Last Updated Thu, 10 Oct 2002 CBC News, OTTAWA - An Ottawa server is believed to be the first hospitality worker in Canada to receive workers' compensation in connection with second-hand smoke. Heather Crowe has lung cancer but is a non-smoker.

Crowe is also appearing in new anti-smoking ads created by Health Canada. The ads are supposed to be harder hitting than previous campaigns.

The ads are expected to focus on second-hand smoke and on the role of tobacco companies in keeping smokers addicted.

Crowe, 57, is a non-smoker. She worked for 40 years in Ottawa bars and restaurants. Her doctor says she contracted the disease from exposure to second-hand smoke.

"My cancer is a smoker's tumour and I've never smoked a day in my life," Crowe told CBC News.

The former server is expected to be compensated for loss of earnings and money to cover her medical and living expenses.

Crowe was forced to stop working last summer after doctors said her cancer was inoperable. She has been told she has six months to three years to live.

"When you're done with your chemotherapy and (you're) on your knees at the toilet...this is when I made my decision I can never let this happen to someone else."

The ad featuring Crowe will begin airing on Oct. 14. In it, Crowe says "I never smoked a day in my life. The air was blue where I worked."

Anti-tobacco groups applaud the new intitiative. A coalition of health groups wrote a public letter to the health minister in August urging for a tougher campaign.

The anti-smoking groups said the current ads had little or no effect. They say a strategy called "tobacco-industry denormalization" used by California and Massachusetts was best because it focused on the industry's behaviour.

Ads that use this strategy are especially effective on teenagers because they depict smoking as a form of submission to the tobacco industry and not an act of rebellion.

"This is an industry that has lied about all aspects of its business and yet has managed to put responsibility for the epidemic on individual behaviour," says Mahood.

Mahood's group was key in getting graphic warning labels put on cigarette packages.

More than 45,000 Canadians die every year from smoking-related illnesses.

"When you look at the source of the epidemic, which is the tobacco industry, you get people to tune in," says Steve Marchat of the Canadian Cancer Society.