We really shouldn’t be inhaling anything that isn’t oxygen into our lungs, but at least with cigarettes the dangers are well-known and we know exactly the risks we’re taking in exchange for that sweet hit of nicotine.
Vapes, on the other hand, are a relatively new phenomenon and experiences like those of Draven Hatfield, 19, from West Virginia, US, are only just becoming publicised and giving some indication as to the potential dangers of vaping.
Draven started vaping when he was 13-years-old, and at 16 was working his way through entire disposables every two days. In October 2021, the construction worker began experiencing severe chest pains and cramps.
After rushing to hospital, medics told him his left lung had collapsed, and they inserted a chest tube without numbing his body properly. As Draven explains, this is about as brutal as it sounds (via Metro):
It was the most painful experience of my life.
The doctor said that my lungs looked like I’d smoked three packs of cigarettes a day for at least 30 years.
I was pretty upset. I thought vaping was better than smoking and I was worried about my future. I was very scared.
I didn’t connect it to the vapes at that point. It took three times of it collapsing before I connected it to the vapes.
The third time I was in the middle of hitting a vape and I felt it collapse.
I just felt a little pop and as I’d been through it I knew what it was. I was breathing differently and then every time I swallowed I had a little pinch in my side.
I mean, I get that not everyone has the information/education on these products and they haven’t been around long enough for their true effects to be known, but surely when the first doctor told Draven his lungs were like those of a heavy smoker, that should’ve given him a clue it was down to the vaping? Come on bud, rub those 2 remaining brain cells together for me one time!
Unfortunately, despite his efforts to stop vaping, Draven’s lung collapsed a fourth time in February 2022, forcing him to have a bullectomy surgery to remove air pockets from his right lung:
On the way to the hospital everything was looking good and when I got there they had to do surgery on me. It involved attaching the wall of my ribs, there’s a chemical process of attaching, they scrape the air bubbles off my lungs.
I still feel pain to this day. On the collapsed side, I hurt pretty bad sometimes and I have scares, I feel like my lung will collapse again but then I realise it’s just the pain.
I’ll never touch a vape or smoke again. I’m very positive that vaping has done the damage, my specialist and lung doctor were also positive on that.
Well, it took him a while, but fair play to the lad – he arrived at the right conclusion in the end. It seems no one can categorically say that vaping is healthier than smoking cigarettes, and if you’re vaping anywhere near the amount that Draven was, then you’re probably setting yourself up for some serious health complications in the future. You have been warned.
For the man who died after his vape pen exploded in his face, click HERE.
