A YOUNG man claims vaping left him 30 minutes from suffocating to death after months of near-constant puffing.
Xavier Roper had been heavily vaping for “between six to nine months” before his habit landed him in the intensive care unit (ICU).
“I could gradually feel myself getting worse – it was like a wet blanket over my lungs,” the man from Sydney, Australia, said.
Two years ago, Xavier woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air.
Terrified, the young man was rushed to hospital, where doctors discovered his oxygen levels were dangerously low – around 40 per cent.
For the body to function properly, oxygen levels need to be around the 95 per cent mark.
He narrowly escaped intubation, which is when a tube attached to a breathing machine is funnelled through the person’s mouse or nose and to the windpipe.
Instead, he was kept in the ICU until his oxygen levels returned to normal.
“I realised that I could have died,” he said.
“Maybe 20 minutes, 30 minutes later, if I didn’t get to the hospital on time, I could have suffocated,” he added.
Xavier is now sharing his “terrifying” story with an Australian health campaign which hopes to crack down on the addictive practice.
He said: “It’s a pretty slippery slope, going from having a puff or two of your friends’ vape at a party to buying your vape to having it constantly in your hand.”
Since his stint in the IUC, the Aussie has not touched a vape.
Data from a New South Wales health survey shows rates of vaping among young people in the state are on the rise.
Between 16-24 year-olds quadrupled from 4.5 per cent in 2019-2020 to 16.5 per cent in 2021-22, the figures suggest.
A similar picture can be seen in the UK, which has led to the Government announcing a ban on disposable vapes in England.
Curbs on flavours aimed at kids and where they can be displayed will also come in.
The number of youngsters vaping in the UK tripled in three years, with nine per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds using them.
The changes are part of a government response to a consultation on smoking and vaping last October.
Vaping involves inhaling nicotine in a vapour rather than smoke, removing the two most harmful elements of smoking, burning tobacco and producing tar or carbon monoxide, which makes it a good tool for weaning smokers off cigarettes.
However, its long-term health effects remain uncertain.
We are now beginning to see the shocking health impact of vaping on younger people, with kids as young as nine showing up in hospital with devastating lung damage.
The latest figures from NHS England reveal that in the past year, there were 15 cases of under-nines being hospitalised with injuries ranging from bleeding lungs to lung collapse.
Although e-cigarettes are almost certainly significantly less harmful than smoking tobacco, they aren’t risk free.
Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, as well as other ingredients such as propylene glycol, glycerine and flavourings.
The government has regulated E-cigarettes since May 2016. From April 2017 it’s illegal to sell e-cigarettes to, or buy them for, under 18s.
If you use e-cigarettes as a complete replacement for smoking, you’ll almost certainly benefit your health.
The health benefit comes from stopping smoking, not using an e-cigarette.
It will be some time until studies will show the long-term impact and any unforeseen risks of using e-cigarettes.
More is known about the safety and effectiveness of other stop smoking medications.
Source: NHS Inform
