Curt Schilling must live with the ravages of prolonged tobacco use; something he probably wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy.
The former Boston Red Sox pitcher recorded a public service announcement, which warns viewers of the dangers of smokeless tobacco. Schilling, an oral cancer survivor, teamed up with Major League Baseball and the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society to deliver his message. The 60-second spot debuted online Thursday and will air on the MLB Network and at big-league parks around the country.
“I was warned many, many times over the 30 years I dipped,” Schilling said in a statement, according to The Associated Press. “I never listened. Cancer changed that. I found out, through the worst pain you can imagine and hospitalization for two months, that there was no time during my addiction that was worth what I went through. Don’t ask yourself if you might get cancer when you dip, just get a calendar out and wait.”
Schilling, 49, announced in 2014 his cancer is in remission, but the lessons it taught him will never fade to distant memory.
