Hospitalized singer Amy Winehouse has emphysema, father says
By STEPHANIE GASKELL
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Sunday, June 22nd 2008, 3:38 PM
Doctors have diagnosed the Grammy winner with emphysema, according to her father.
"The doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs, it won't just ruin her voice, it will kill her," Mitch Winehouse told Britain's Daily Mirror. "The doctors have said that if she had continued the way she was going she could have ended up an invalid - she wouldn't have been able to breathe."
Doctors told the troubled singer her lungs are only operating at 70% capacity.
"With smoking the crack cocaine and the cigarettes, her lungs are all gunked up," her father said. "There are nodules around the chest and dark marks."
Winehouse, 24, was hospitalized last week after fainting in her London home.
Her father said he has hopes for his daughter and warned crack dealers to stop selling drugs to her.
"I'm saying to those drug dealers - and they know who they are - if they are supplying crack to Amy, then they've got to take responsibility," he said. "I don't want her hanging out with her mates like Pete Doherty, either."
Doherty, another British singer, has had his share of drug woes, including multiple arrests and rehab stints.
"If she doesn't go back to drugs, then she can lead this magnificent life," he said. "We are praying that that's what Amy really wants. She seems resolute."
Mitch Winehouse also said he expects his daughter to be able to perform at the Glastonbury Festival next week.
"She abstains and regulates her drug use when she has to do a show," he said. "I've started to see my old Amy back. We'll just have to see how great her resolution is."
