A ‘TERRIFIED’ dad claims his teenage daughter nearly died after vaping burst a hole in her lung – as she smoked the equivalent of 400 cigarettes a week.
Mark Blight rushed his daughter Kyla to hospital in the early hours on 11 May, after receiving a phone call that she had collapsed and turned ‘blue’ while sleeping over at a friend’s house.
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After nearly having a cardiac arrest, the 17-year-old underwent a five and a half hour surgery to remove part of her lung and spent two further weeks in hospital before she could return home.
A small air blister known as a pulmonary bleb had developed on the top of Kyla’s lungs.
It’s thought her excessive vaping caused it to burst and led to her lung collapsing.
The student, who began vaping at just 15, believed the habit to be ‘harmless’ and would get through an entire 4,000 puff vape a week, which is the equivalent to 400 cigarettes.
I’ve cried like a baby. It was horrible to watch
Mark Blight
But Kyla now vows the ordeal has “scared” her away from touching disposable vapes ever again.
Full-time carer Mark took to Facebook to spread awareness of his daughter’s “life-threatening” ordeal, urging young people to “throw away vapes” because “it’s not worth it”.
Dad-of-nine Mark, who lives in Egremont, Cumbria, 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. We took her down to the hospital.
“Her lung collapsed this time due to the hole. She was close to having a cardiac arrest.
“They rushed us into Newcastle and she had the operation on Tuesday.
“It was a five and a half hour operation. She’d had a seizure on the operating table.
“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.”
I honestly thought they were harmless and wouldn’t do anything to anyone. But now I won’t touch them. I wouldn’t go near them
Kyla Blight
Mark said it had been excruciating to watch his little girl go through it all.
“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.”
‘WON’T TOUCH THEM’
Mark said Kyla was first rushed to hospital in November 2023 after he believed she was having a heart attack, but an X-ray revealed she had a hole in her lung after a bleb had formed.
The student was taken to hospital again in February 2024 but was told she was healed.
But just months later, on May 11, she was hospitalised for two weeks after the bleb burst and caused her lung to collapse.
Kyla admitted she began using disposable vapes aged 15 after seeing her friends at school doing it and began using it everyday, getting through 4,000 puffs a week after thinking it was ‘harmless’.
The 4 horrifying things that can happen to your body after vaping
VAPES were once hailed as miracle devices to help adults ditch cigarettes.
But while the devices don’t carry the same risks as tobacco, experts have warned that vaping might not be so harmless after all.
Here are five ways vaping could damage young users bodies:
1. It could slow down brain development
Vaping nicotine can permanently affect brain development in people under the age of 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It said that nicotine consumed during teenage years can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control, as well as increase the risk of addiction.
2. It could lead to tooth decay
Dr Michael Heffernan, a dentist at The Wessex Dental Specialist Care, said most vapes contain dangerous chemical that can harm your teeth and lead to decay.
Puffing on the devices could also lead to mouth dryness, creating an environment in which harmful bacteria can grow.
3. It could damage heart health
However, some of the chemicals found in vapes can be damaging to the heart, with the American Heart Association (AHA) stating that vaping is “as harmful to the body’s cardiovascular systems as cigarettes”.
4. It could cause lung disease
Vaping from a young age could leave children with breathing difficulties, with paediatric respiratory consultant Dr Mike McKean saying he’d seen reports of people developing lung disease related to vaping.
Researchers from the US also found that young people who vape are more at risk of bronchitis, inflammation of the airways, and shortness of breath.
Read more on how vaping can affect your health here.
However, the student revealed the experience has ‘terrified’ her and opened her eyes to the dangers of using e-cigarettes, which she now ‘won’t touch’.
Kyla said: “When I was 15 it started becoming a popular thing. All my friends were doing it. I just thought it would be harmless and that I would be fine.
“Everyday I would use the 4,000 puff ones and I would go through them in about a week.
“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.
“I was terrified. We went [to hospital] thinking we were only going to be in there for a few hours but ended up being there for two weeks having surgeries and all this.”
‘NOT WORTH IT’
Mark revealed that despite once catching his daughter using an e-cigarette, he hadn’t realised she had started vaping at age 15 and underestimated the extent she was doing it.
The 61-year-old admitted he has vaped for 13 years to help quit using cigarettes.
But he now urges young people to stop using disposable ones after seeing the dangers first-hand.
Mark said: “People underestimate how dangerous they can be. I used them to stop smoking 13 years ago and it’s never bothered me at all.
“Although you think it doesn’t bother you, it might do later on [considering] what happened to Kyla. It’s scared me.”
The government this year announced plans to ban disposable vapes and curb flavours aimed at appealing kids, aiming to roll them out by April 1, 2025.
What are the new vape laws?
Ministers have pledged to crackdown on poorly regulated vapes and e-cigarettes following an explosion in the number of teenagers who use them.
New rules for manufacturers and shopkeepers are expected to come into force in late 2024 or early 2025.
They are set to include:
- Higher tax rates paid on vapes increase the price and make it harder for children to afford them
- A ban on single-use vapes in favour of devices that can be recharged
- A ban on colourful and cartoonish packaging that may appeal to youngsters
- Tighter controls on flavourings and a ban on unnecessarily sweet or child-friendly ones like bubblegum and candy
- More regulation on how and where they are displayed in shops, potentially putting them out of sight
- Harsher penalties for shops caught selling them to under-18s
The ban on disposable vapes is part of ambitious government plans to tackle the rise in youth vaping.
A report published by Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) last June found 20.5 per cent of children in the UK had tried vaping in 2023, up from 15.8 per cent in 2022 and 13.9 per cent in 2020.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt also announced plans to impose a tax on imported e-cigs and manufacturers, making vapes more expensive.
The duty will apply to the liquid in vapes, with higher levels for products with more nicotine.
Mark came out in favour of barring youngsters from vaping, saying: “For kids there should definitely be a ban. Especially the throw away ones. These chemicals that they’ve got in them haven’t been tested properly.
“The doctor said he sees a lot more of it now than he used to. He did say there are a lot of young ones with holes in their lungs.
“I would say to parents, watching your kid do this, you’re going to go through what I went through. It’s just not worth it.
“For kids, they don’t understand until it happens to them. That’s why I wrote on my Facebook. I’m going to have to make young kids aware of this.”
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