Leonard Nimoy's widow is urging current smokers to quit now before they come down with the same lung disease that killed her husband.
In a new commercial for the CDC's Tips From Former Smokers campaign, Susan Nimoy explained that the actor had 'chronic breathing difficulties for as long as I knew him.'
She added that Nimoy was always convinced that he would die of lung cancer, but not from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of diseases that include emphysema and bronchitis, especially years after he had quit.
'You always think you have more time than you do, and you really don't,' Susan warns as the video ends.
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Leonard Nimoy's widow Susan (pictured) appeared in a new commercial for the CDC's Tips From Former Smokers campaign to warn current smokers to quit
Nimoy, who is best known for his role as Spock in the Star Trek franchise, smoked for 37 years before he quit in 1985. In 2013, he was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after years of having trouble breathing while walking and persistent coughing. Pictured: Nimoy in Star Trek, left, and near the end of his life, right
Nimoy, who is best known for his role as Spock in the Star Trek franchise, began smoking as a teenager and continued for 37 years, Susan told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an interview.
He tried - and failed - to quit several times, but finally did so in 1985 when his first grandson was born and he was worried about the harm of secondhand smoke.
However, the decades-worth of smoking had severely damaged Nimoy's lungs. He had trouble breathing while walking and had a persistent cough.
In 2013, he was diagnosed with COPD, despite giving up smoking 28 years prior.
COPD is a group of diseases, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, that block the airways and cause breathing problems.
Early stages usually show few to no symptoms, but later stages
