Throwback: Saif Ali Khan during earlier hospital experience, “If you look around, you’re bound to be petrified by what you see and hear” : Bollywood News
In February 2007, Saif Ali Khan was rushed to the same hospital Lilavati for a heart condition. Soon after surgery he spoke to this writer at length about his new health plans, which included quitting smoking.
Throwback: Saif Ali Khan during earlier hospital experience, “If you look around, you’re bound to be petrified by what you see and hear”
Saif had said, “There’s bad news and good news. The bad news is that it was a blood clot in my heart. The good news is that it’s been fully cured. The cardiologist came on Saturday morning to take my ECG test…and it was all clear. Now I’m free to go home. But I’ll have to take it easy for a while. Nothing stressful and certainly no smoking anymore. In fact, my doctors told me my condition was brought on entirely by smoking. It causes deposits in the artery which caused that clot. I’ve decided to quit smoking completely.”
He added, “It’s been a time of revelation for me. Though I came out unscathed, this hospital experience served up a healthy warning for me. I need to correct a few things in my life, mainly smoking. There I was, with genuinely ill people, people who were suffering from cancer and chronic heart ailments. It just made me so conscious of my own life and my responsibilities. I was so glad to see my family and so many of my friends from the film industry visiting me in hospital. I now intend to use my rest period writing each of them a personal thank you note. I never visited anyone in the hospital. Now, I’ve decided to change that. It matters so much to have people who care for you when you’re down.”
While recuperating, Saif had to miss certain events. “I couldn’t host the Filmfare Awards,” he said. “In fact, it would take me a couple of weeks to get back to normal. No more work on Sundays. I’m a hundred percent recovered now. But strictly forbidden from smoking, And even if I wasn’t, I’m smart enough to know smoking is seriously damaging to my health. See, the first three weeks is really tough for anyone who wants to quit. Once you get over that phase, you’re home and free. Luckily for me I was in hospital and under medication for those three weeks. By the time I came out of the hospital the addiction was over.”
Saif continued, “I wouldn’t call quitting smoking a sacrifice. It was a necessity. I’ve been in hospital, and I had a very strong motivation to give up smoking. Either I quit, or I fell ill again. I almost had a heart attack because of my smoking. Other people have probably just heard about how bad smoking is. I know. Smoking adds to the chances of your falling sick. It’s like adding a bottle of whiskey to fast driving. That’s what my cardiologist compares smoking to. I wasn’t afraid when I fell ill. I’ve always had a fatalistic attitude to life… never store it up, because you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow. I want to enjoy the day. It might be all over tomorrow. Anything can happen at any time.”
The actor added, “If you look around you, you’re bound to be petrified by what you see and hear. I mean, some kid falls out of the window, and I say, ‘Thank God mine are safe.’ Every day something horrible doesn’t happen to me and my family, is a blessing. I do spend more concentrated and focused time with my children after my illness. That was possible because I’ve been at home. But look, it’s a beautiful world. And most people are nice to me. Unless I’m stupid, or expect too much and mess it up, there’s nothing for me to feel scared about. I want to approach my work and personal life with a mixture of confidence and humility. I don’t want to work too hard. I never have. I don’t want to burn myself out.”
Also Read: Prerna Arora shudders after Saif Ali Khan incident; says, “If Saif Isn’t safe who is?”
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