( CNN ) -- CNN : Do you remember the first time you smoked cigarettes ? HALL : The first time was on a camping outing with friends in North Carolina . One of my friends snuck them in . I was thirteen . That was the first time I tried a cigarette . It made me sick . Then , at seventeen , I started smoking to be with my friends and be with them . It did n't make me sick that time . it was pretty quick that I became addicted and within a year I was a pack-a-day smoker . CNN : Tell us about the photo of you when you were younger . HALL : That was my senior year in high school , right after I started smoking . CNN : At that age , did it ever occur to you that it might be dangerous ? What , if anything , did you know about the possible downsides of smoking ? HALL : I knew nothing . Absolutely nothing . It just made me feel grown up . I wish I had had someone like me come see me in school and talk to me about the dangers of tobacco . I think it would have changed my life . CNN : How long were you a smoker ? HALL : I smoked for 23 years . CNN : At your worst , how much did you smoke in a day ? HALL : Two packs a day . Video : Terrie Hall talks about how she discovered she had cancer and why she joined the ad campaign . CNN : Tell me a bit about your life . HALL : I am divorced and I have one daughter in her thirties and a ten-year-old grandson . I do a lot of volunteer work and advocacy work . I go to the middle and high schools around North Carolina and talk about smoking and tobacco education and awareness . CNN : It 's clear in the ads that you 've been sick . Tell us about your condition today . How are you doing ? HALL : I 'm still undergoing treatment for cancer . My cancer initially started in my mouth and was discovered by my dentist and I had to go through radiation . The whole time I was going through radiation , I had a really bad sore throat and I thought I was just smoking too much . After the radiation was complete , in June 2000 , I lost my mother in August and in December I discovered the tumor on my larynx . They told me they were going to remove my voice box , but all I heard was cancer . I did n't hear the part about them taking something from me . So I woke up in ICU and the nurse asked me if she could get me anything , and I was in really bad pain , and I opened my mouth to speak and nothing came out . Not even a breath . I have a hole in my neck now , and I 'm called a laryngectomee . It 's just shocking . You ca n't wrap your mind around it . That 's when I faced the reality of what happened . That was my worst moment . That 's also when I quit , at age 40 in 2001 . Opinion : New anti-smoking ads a smart move . CNN : Can you tell us a bit about the people you love most and how your journey has impacted them ? HALL : My daughter and grandson , my stepfather and my fellow laryngectomiees are the most supportive . My daughter is very proud of me . She recently quit smoking herself in January . It makes me feel wonderful ! They are very proud that I have taken a stand in a positive direction and that I am trying to help save other people 's lives . CNN : How did you become a part of the CDC ad campaign ? HALL : I was approached by Save organization , Survivors and Victims of Tobacco Empowerment . They gave my name to the CDC because of all that I had been through . Because of tobacco . It 's been more than my mind can wrap around , but I am excited about the possibilities and the numbers of lives this campaign can save is overwhelming . Related : Should smokers be targeted with educational ads ? CNN : What does it mean to you to be a part of this ? HALL : I feel very honored and I really appreciate the privilege to be a part of something so positive . And I know that it will save lives and I 'm glad to be a part of it . It 's real . We are all real victims of it , and we 're survivors . We did survive and we should get the word out to other people that this can happen to you too . Quit . If you never start , you never have to worry about stopping . It 's the number one preventable death . Related : CDC unveils graphic anti-smoking ads . CNN : What do you hope the ad you 're featured in can accomplish ? HALL : I hope it gets the message out to young people and middle age people that this can happen to you . I only smoked for 23 years and that 's not that long to be diagnosed with any cancer . This is reality .
Terrie Hall of North Carolina is featured in harsh anti-smoking ad campaign . Hall describes how 23 years of smoking led to her battling cancer . Her worst moment was immediately after doctors removed her larynx . She says she had a seizure and nearly died from the pain.