Iconic Baseball legend Curt Schilling, like many professional athletes, was a tobacco chewer. He is now revealing he had Oral Cancer, and states that he regrets chewing tobacco for over 30 years . “I’ll go to my grave believing that was why I got what I got” he said in an radio interview . “Absolutely. No question in my mind about that…I do believe without a doubt, unquestionably, that chewing is what gave me cancer.”

Schilling talked at length about how addictive chewing tobacco was, and that despite losing his sense of taste and smell, and having his gums bleed, he didn’t quit.  Not until he was diagnosed.  Treatments, including radiation therapy, were so painful Schilling said “The pain I was going through this treatment, the second or third day, it was the first thing and only thing in my life that I’ve ever had that I wish I could go back and never have dipped. Not once. It was that painful.”

If you or someone you care about is addicted to tobacco, talk to us. We can help. Don’t let what happened to Curt Schilling, happen to you.