Jason Momoa Opens Up On The Near-Death Experience That Made Him Quit Smoking

Jason MomoaJason Momoa has revealed that he nearly drowned while surfing in his native Hawaii, leading him to quit smoking.During an appearance on the Smartless podcast – hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett – the Chief Of War star recalled going to the renowned big wave surfing break Pe’ahi (Jaws) in Maui when the leash connected to his surfboard snapped, while he was almost a mile offshore.“It’s so windy on Maui, and so the board just went. I couldn’t even see it anymore,” Jason, who had paddled 13 miles down the coast with friends at the time, explained.The Dune actor, who wanted to be a surfer growing up and who hails from a family ofcelebrated surfers and watermen, said he “trained pretty well” for such situations, but he “took quite a few” to the head as 10-foot high waves rolled in.“It’s actually, this place is called Shitfucks, and it’s literally because there’s all this water that pulls out ... and it just pulls you out and you just get hit with these waves,” he explained.“So I was stuck in this crazy spot, which is probably the outer reef, and unknown to me, I was really on the outer reef, and they couldn’t see me, and I had my paddle, and I was waving it, and they couldn’t see me. And the waves were so big, it basically took my shorts off they were so fucking big.”Jason noted that he began to think of his daughter, who was three months old at the time, and he was unable to move his arms and legs.“Like I literally gave up, and I’m screaming inside, and my foot just hits the outer reef. And I don’t know if it was a fucking whale or like just could be one rock, but I just reached down, grabbed it, I jump up, I get hit by another wave,” he said.“I dig my feet into the coral, and I’m literally in the middle of the ocean, and I’m just, I could barely put my lips above it just to breathe and get a break, but I had already given up. So it’s like, you’ve already given up and died and have a second chance at it.”Jason said one of his friends came to the rescue, but it was “brutal” getting out to safety, adding that his feet were “covered in blood.”He said he used to smoke two to three packs of cigarettes a day before the experience.“I couldn’t stop for my kids, I couldn’t stop for my ex, I couldn’t stop smoking,” he said. “The moment I came out, I never smoked again. I just died. I just died. I tried and tried, but I couldn’t do it again because I just, I gave up. Like, I gave up my life.”READ MORE:Jason Momoa Confirms New Relationship Following Split From Lisa Bonet'I Hate It': Jason Momoa Is Not Happy With The Results As He Shaves Off His Beard For Film RoleJason Momoa Wants You To Know His Teenage Son Got Cast In Dune Totally 'On His Own'

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