Jump to full article: Philippine Daily Inquirer (ph), 2002-08-03
Author: Tessa R. Salazar / Inquirer News Service
Intro: VICTOR Lopez, who is now in his mid-50s, used to believe that life should be lived to the fullest. He had a very active social life, went scuba diving and smoked up to two packs of cigarettes a day.
"Why not smoke when everybody else in the disco does?" he would say.
He didn't believe his doctor's warnings. He didn't believe those who said that carcinogens from cigarette smoke that clung to his clothing could still be inhaled long after his last puff had dissolved into thin air.
Until one day, he could hardly breathe.
"It was like diving 150 feet under water with no air in my oxygen tank. There was no air going in and out of my lungs," he said.
Victor decided to quit smoking. Seven years later, he still hasn't puffed one cigarette. He also abandoned his poker group whose members all smoked.
Today, Victor's constant companion is a stroller that carries an oxygen tank-not for scuba diving, but to get his supply of oxygen.
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