Bill was angry with himself that he ever accepted that first cigarette. “When I was 15, I started smoking. It was a stupid thing I wish I could take back.”

Bill had diabetes. He learned the hard way that smoking makes diabetes harder to control. At 37, Bill went blind in his left eye from a detached retina – damage to the inner lining of the eye. He also had kidney failure. Two years later, at the age of 39, he had his leg amputated due to poor circulation – made worse from smoking. “I lost my leg, and that’s when I quit,” he said.

Bill’s serious health problems changed his life dramatically. Married and the father of four children, he worried that he wouldn’t be able to provide for his family. “Smoking is a nasty addiction,” he said. “It’s not cool, and it doesn’t do anybody any good. Don’t ever start smoking.”

Bill wasn’t killed in war, nor did he suffer any injuries in battle. He died in August 2014 from heart disease. He was 42.

To listen to Bill voice his own regrets, click on the image below:

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