Gruen Von Behrens talks about his experience with cancer after using spit tobacco for about four years as a teenager. The Illinois native's face was badly disfigured by the surgeries needed to help remove the cancer.

Speaker shares story of tobacco's ills

Illinois native Gruen Von Behrens attempted to encourage youth to avoid the use of tobacco products during presentations made March 29 at Alleghany High School and Sparta School.

The 29-year-old shared the story of his battle with oral cancer, of which he was diagnosed at the age of 17. As the result of 34 surgeries over a 12-year period, Von Behrens has a disfigured face.

Today, Von Behrens serves as the national spokesperson on behalf of Oral Health of America and the National Spit Tobacco Education Program, and as such, he travels the country, as well as Canada and Mexico, talking about tobacco use. He has also been on a number of television shows and news broadcasts, including making appearances on MTV and ESPN.

As he addressed the youth, he commented, "I know I'm kind of hard to understand, all right? I've had 34 surgeries to my mouth and to my neck. Doctors have had to cut off half of my tongue to get rid of the cancer that I had. So, not everything that I say comes out just the way I want it to, I apologize."

He later made reference to his face, stating, "This isn't a mask I wear. I can't take this off tonight at my hotel because I'm sick of people staring at me. This...is my life."

Von Behrens continued, "I didn't get trouble back home in Illinois and they were like, all right Gruen, as your punishment, you have to go out in public, show people your face and tell them that tobacco did that to you. That's not the reason I'm here. I didn't come here today as an authority figure, as a preacher, as a teacher, as a cop, as somebody who's going to tell you that you're a bad kid if you've ever used tobacco.

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