A man created a Snapchat story about cancer that will horrify anyone who smokes

An Indian man created a heartfelt Snapchat story to urge his friends and family to quit smoking, BuzzFeed reports. 

Mumbai resident Aashish Mehrotra used to be an occasional smoker, but he got a sobering wake-up call after a friend who never smoked lost her life to cancer. He quit smoking, then began donating platelets and white blood cells at a local hospital.

“During the donations, I would see families coming in and out of the oncology department, faces of despair, some of hope and others of lost hope,” Mehrotra told BuzzFeed. That's when he was inspired to create the Snapchat story urging others to quit smoking, too. 

"Cancer is something smokers shrug away during conversations on their smoke break," he wrote in the story. "Stop making it easier for cancer. Don't give in. Quit SMOKING NOW."

Smokers are about 25 times more likely than non-smokers to develop lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Smoking also increases your risk of getting cancer in the mouth, lips, nose and sinuses, larynx, throat, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, uterus, cervix, colon/rectum, and ovaries. Even nonsmokers like Mehrotra's friend can be affected: In the U.S., about 7,300 nonsmokers die each year from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke, the CDC reports.

"I promised myself I would do whatever it takes to make sure my loved ones would not suffer because of my selfishness and stupidity," he told BuzzFeed. "I promised I would make everyone around me understand (even if they thought I was annoying or got mad at me)."

Watch his entire story here: 

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