(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-12 10:50

NEW YORK - He's the poster boy for the state's new anti-smoking campaign. But 48-year-old Skip Legault is still smoking -- despite an amputated leg, two heart attacks and a stroke. The state Department of Health confirmed Friday that they chose a smoker for the ads, saying it helps underscore the risks associated with nicotine addiction.

This photo provided by the New York State Department of Health on Friday, Jan. 11, 2008, shows an ad for the state's anti-smoking campaign featuring Skip Legault, a lifetime smoker who has suffered an amputated leg, two heart attacks and a stroke. [Agencies]

In the ad, Legault, looking into the camera and supporting himself on crutches, recites a litany of health woes, including a first heart attack at age 28 and another at 29, then says: "Every bit of this is from smoking."

Dr. Richard F. Daines, the state health commissioner, defended the campaign, which began running on television, in newspapers and on the Internet in November and ends Jan. 22.

"Here's someone who's willing to step forward and show his weaknesses in public," Daines said. "I think it took a lot of courage."

A message left for Legault on his home phone was not immediately returned.

But in an interview with the Daily News, which first reported the story, he said, "I don't tell anyone to quit smoking. I tell people the effects smoking does to me and people I've been in contact with."

Legault, who once smoked three packs a day but has cut back to half a pack, was paid $4,000 for his time in producing the ads, the health department said.

Daines said the fact that Legault hasn't been able to kick the habit "demonstrates how extreme this addiction can get."

"Smoking is still the single most reversible, avoidable cause of premature vascular disease," he said. "High blood pressure typically takes lifetime treatment. For smoking, you just have to stop smoking and the risks decline."