鈥淓ither tonight or tomorrow, I鈥檒l be dead.鈥�
Those are just some of the final words of a Nova Scotia man who filmed a moving message warning others not to smoke as he lay dying in a hospital bed hooked up to machines.
On Monday, John Wiseman gasped his last breaths after a two-week stay in hospital. The 65-year-old man from New Minas, N.S. died from complications of smoking, according to his family.
鈥淚n his last few days, he discovered that he had an ulcer in his stomach that was bleeding,鈥� Wiseman鈥檚 sister Sandra Wiseman-Burrell told CTV Atlantic on Friday. 鈥淭hey tried to do a couple surgeries on it, but the doctor had told us that his bowels, his small bowel was like mush, and they couldn鈥檛 even sew into it anymore.鈥�
Wiseman-Burrell said her brother鈥檚 heart and lungs were also failing and he suffered from emphysema for some time.
鈥淭hey couldn鈥檛 do anything more,鈥� she said.
In an effort to discourage others from meeting a similar fate, from his hospital bed sharing his painful health experiences.
鈥淚 wish to hell nobody else starts smoking. You see all this stuff here. It鈥檚 all that鈥檚 keeping me alive right now,鈥� Wiseman said. 鈥淚 hope that anybody sees this, will remember what it鈥檚 like and will not start smoking.鈥�
Wiseman鈥檚 sister said the video was important to him.
鈥淚f it just touched one person鈥檚 life, he would be happy that somebody stopped smoking or didn鈥檛 start smoking, but his message was 鈥楶lease, don鈥檛 smoke. You鈥檒l end up like me,鈥欌�� she said.
Since Wiseman-Burrell uploaded the video to Facebook on Thursday, it has attracted more than 4,600 views. She echoed her brother鈥檚 message with an emotional plea of her own.
鈥淒o whatever you have to do, but just quit smoking because your family doesn鈥檛 want to see you, like I saw my brother,鈥� she said as her voice cracked.
