David Lynch Started Smoking at Age 8 — Now He Needs Oxygen to Walk: ‘It’s a Big Price to Pay’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/kChWuWDixg
— People (@people) November 14, 2024
David Lynch started smoking at the age of 8. “A big important part of my life was smoking,” says Lynch. “I loved the smell of tobacco, the taste of tobacco. I loved lighting cigarettes. It was part of being a painter and a filmmaker for me.”
Four years ago, the Mulholland Drive director was diagnosed with emphysema, a chronic lung condition that causes shortness of breath and which is a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD.
Today he relies on supplemental oxygen for anything more strenuous than a walk across the room (“I can hardly walk across a room. It’s like you’re walking around with a plastic bag around your head.”) — and he wants to warn other smokers that the same could happen to them.
“In the back of every smoker’s mind is the fact that it’s healthy, so you’re literally playing with fire,” he says. “It can bite you. I took a chance, and I got bit.”
“I really wanted to get this across: Think about it. You can quit these things that are going to end up killing you,” he says. “I owe it to them — and to myself — to say that.”
