Teen rushed to hospital in life-threatening condition after vaping equivalent of 400 cigarettes a week
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media
A teen was rushed to hospital in a life-threatening condition after vaping the equivalent of 400 cigarettes per week.
In the early hours of May 11, Mark Blight took his daughter, Kyla, to hospital after receiving a phone call that she had collapsed and turned 'blue' while staying over at a friend's house.
It was discovered Kyla nearly had a cardiac arrest, with the 17-year-old having a five-and-a-half hour surgery to remove part of her lung.
She also spent a further two weeks in hospital before she could return home.
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A small air blister - medically known as a pulmonary bleb - had developed on the top of Kyla's lungs and it is thought her excessive vaping caused this to burst and ultimately led to her lung collapsing.
Unbeknownst to her dad, the student began vaping at the age of 15 - though she believed the habit to be 'harmless'.
Kyla would get through an entire 4,000 puff vape a week, which equates to a staggering 400 cigarettes.
Mark, who lives in Cumbria, England, said: "I've been to hell and back with Kyla over the last couple of weeks. I just put it down to vaping, they can't put it down to anything else but vaping that's caused this.
"She was at a friend's house and I got a phone call at 4am that she had collapsed and gone blue. I went round for her. We took her down to the hospital.
"Her lung collapsed this time due to the hole. They put a drain in her. She's a little girl who doesn't like needles. She screamed. She was close to having a cardiac arrest."
He added: "I was talking to the surgeon and he was saying about these blebs that can form on the lungs. They think it is the throw away vapes that burst these blebs and puncture a hole in your lungs. Apparently it's a big thing now. He's done a lot of operations like this.
"It was terrifying for me. I've cried like a baby. It was horrible to watch. I've been with her the whole time.
"It was life-threatening. It really did threaten her life because she was so close to having a cardiac arrest on that Friday. They said she went blue. They thought she'd gone."
The dad-of-nine has since taken to Facebook to raise awareness of Kyla's 'life-threatening' experience, urging other people to 'throw away vapes' because 'it's not worth it'.
Following her terrifying ordeal, Kyla has now opened her eyes to the dangers of using e-cigarettes which she now 'won't touch'.
The 17-year-old said: "I honestly thought they were harmless and wouldn't do anything to anyone, even though I had seen so many things about it. I just feel like everyone has that same view.
"But now I won't touch them. I wouldn't go near them. The situation has really scared me out of them."