Curt Schilling Pens Letter To Teenage Self About Chewing Tobacco
BOSTON (CBS) -- Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling is continuing to raise awareness about the dangers of smokeless tobacco.
Schilling announced last year he believed that chewing tobacco for years caused his oral cancer. Writing in The Player's Tribune, Schilling pens a letter to "16-year-old Curt," urging his younger self to make a difference choice.
"Tomorrow at lunch, a kid is going to dare you to take a dip of Copenhagen," Schilling writes. "If you say yes, like I did, you'll be addicted for the rest of your life."
The all-star pitcher goes on to describe the horrific effects of his mouth cancer.
"You will develop sores, you will lose your sense of taste and smell. You will develop lesions," he said. "You will lose your gums — they will rot. You will have problems with your teeth for the rest of your life."
Chewing tobacco, Schilling says, jeopardized his chances of watching his kids grow up and spending "the most important and rewarding days of your life" with his wife.
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"If you say yes tomorrow, you will begin to kill yourself from the inside out," he writes. "It's difficult for you to understand in this current phase of your life, but by chewing tobacco, you are jeopardizing your participation in what will be some of your most important moments."
The letter closes with Schilling pleading with his younger self to "make the right choice."
"Finally, consider this: How many kids will start dipping over the next 32 years because they saw you do it? Do you want that on you? No?" he writes. "Then my advice is simple. Tomorrow, at lunch, just say no."
