Nathan M.: Secondhand Smoke Took the Health of a Man Who Never Smoked

Nathan M., a Native American and member of the Oglala Sioux tribe (Lakota), never smoked a cigarette. But for 11 years he worked in a casino that allowed smoking, and the smoke of other people cost him his health and, in the end, his life. He shared his story in CDC's Tips From Former Smokers® campaign.

Breathing other people's smoke

Nathan remembered a casino so full of smoke you could see it hanging in the air. Secondhand smoke contains dangerous chemicals, and breathing it every day brought on:

Tips From Former Smokers: Nathan M.'s Tip memorial ad. CDC.

• frequent asthma attacks;
• eye irritation, headaches and allergies;
• ear and sinus infections and bronchitis.

His symptoms worsened over the years. A common cold turned into pneumonia and sent him to the emergency room. Looking at his X-rays, a doctor remarked that he had the lungs of a heavy smoker — though Nathan had never smoked a day in his life.

In 2009, doctors found that repeated infections from secondhand smoke had scarred and widened his airways — bronchiectasis, a permanent lung injury. Nathan had to leave his job to escape the smoke. He grew short of breath after walking even a little way and needed oxygen every day.

The life he lost

Nathan had always been active:

• he served in the Marines with the Second Battalion, Fifth Marines reconnaissance unit, where he trained as a sniper;
• he raced motorcycles, sponsored by a major motorcycle company;
• he competed in tribal dances;
• he refereed high school basketball for 14 years.

After he got sick, a few dance steps wore him out, and he could no longer do any of these things. He and his wife shared a long marriage, with five adult children and three grandchildren.

Speaking out

Nathan chose to tell his story so others wouldn't suffer as he had, speaking at schools, powwows and conferences as much as his health allowed. Young people were his special concern: he urged teens never to start smoking, or to quit if they had, and asked everyone to protect children from secondhand smoke. When people told him they smoked, he would ask about their grandchildren — reminding them that smoke can come home with them to small lungs, and pointing to what had happened to him, a man who never smoked.

Secondhand smoke permanently damaged Nathan's lungs and led to his early death in 2013, at age 54.

Help to quit — or to go smokefree

• 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669); in Spanish, 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569)
• Text QUITNOW to 333888 (message and data rates may apply), or try the quitSTART app
• Online: CDC's Quit Smoking pages and Smokefree.gov

Sources

Based on "Nathan M.'s Story," Tips From Former Smokers®, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the campaign participant's own words are rewritten in hubnx's own words.

• The film is the agency's own low-resolution copy, recovered from the Internet Archive's record of cdc.gov.