British woman who began vaping at 15 diagnosed with lung cancer after doctors 'turned her away eight times'
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: SWNS
A woman who started vaping aged 15 has been given 18 months to live after being diagnosed with lung cancer aged 21.
Kayley Boda, now 22, was getting through one 600-puff a week when she started coughing up a brown substance with 'grainy bits' in it in January 2025.
The retail assistant, from Manchester, UK, said doctors turned her away eight times telling her she had a chest infection, until she began coughing up blood.
After seven biopsies, Kayley was diagnosed with lung cancer and has undergone surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, as well as chemotherapy.
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In February 2026, she got the all clear, but two months later, doctors said the cancer had come back in the pleural lining, and that she has just 18 months to live.
Kayley is now raising money to pay for a clinical trial in Germany to help prolong her life, and has issued a warning for others to be aware of the dangers of vaping.
Kayley said: “A few months after I switched from reusable vapes to disposable ones, I started coughing up brown, grainy mucus.
“Doctors turned me away eight times with a chest infection. Then I started coughing up blood, so they did an X-ray and found a shadow on my lung.
“They told me they were 99 percent sure with me being so young that it wasn't cancer, so not to worry about it.
“When I got the results back and they told me it was lung cancer, it felt so surreal.
“Before the diagnosis, I was very naive and thought that something like this would never happen to me.
“I had surgery to remove half of my right lung and after the surgery, I started chemo and I had a terrible reaction to it.
“I couldn't lift my head up, I was throwing up blood, I was urinating blood. I couldn’t eat. I couldn't sleep. I lost 4kg in four days.
“When I got the all clear it felt amazing, but just two months later I was told the cancer had come back, and I have 18 months to live.
“No words can describe how I feel, I’m 22, this isn’t meant to happen to somebody my age.
“I’ve put the cancer down to vaping because my symptoms started a few months after I started disposable vapes, and there’s no lung cancer in my family.
“I haven’t vaped for three months, I’ve made my partner stop, I’ve made my mum stop, I’m urging all my friends to stop.
“Stay off the vapes, because they will catch up with you.”
Kayley started smoking a bit as a teen and using reusable vapes aged 15.
She only started using disposable vapes a few months before her cancer symptoms started. Reusable vapes have been banned in the UK since June 2025.
In November 2024, Kayley developed a rash all over her body, which doctors put down to shingles, chicken pox, or scabies.
“I got treated for all three, and nothing worked," she said.
“It got the point where I was cutting myself from scratching so hard.”
A few months later, she began coughing up a dark brown mucus, with grainy bits, the consistency of sugar, in it.
“At first I thought it was normal, because I vaped a lot, so I brushed it off," she said.
When the coughing continued she went to the doctors but was told it could be scarring from pneumonia, or a chest infection.
In March 2025, Kayley then began coughing up bright red blood, and went back to the doctors, where they gave her a chest x-ray, and told her they had found a shadow on her lower right lung.
Over the next four months, Kayley had seven biopsies, where doctors took samples of the 'shadow'.
Doctors told her not to worry, but in August, when Kayley went in to get the results of the biopsy, she was told she had stage one lung cancer.
In September, Kayley had surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, and the surrounding lymph nodes.
During the surgery, doctors upstaged Kayley’s cancer from stage one to stage three, after finding cancer in six surrounding lymph nodes.
Following the surgery, Kayley was unable to breathe properly and had to learn to walk again.
After finishing chemotherapy in February 2026, Kayley was given the all clear, leaving her feel elated.
However, a month later, she began experiencing extreme chest pains and was told by doctors she had a pleural effusion, which is a build-up of fluid on the lungs.
She got the fluid removed, but when doctors tested it, they discovered her cancer had returned to the pleural lining of her lungs, giving her 18 months to live.
“The oncologist said this is so rare, and usually something they see in patients that are 80 years old," she said.
Kayley said that doctors were unable to give her a definitive answer on the cause of her cancer, but told her that smoking and vaping definitely didn’t help.
Since her diagnosis she has stopped and is urging others to stop too.
Kayley is now hoping to raise £20,000 (around $27,000) for treatment in Germany to try and prolong her life.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.