Credit: Kennedy News and Media
Shocking Photos Show Impact Vaping Has On Lungs As Teenager Has Them Cut Out Of Body
Devastating images show the impact that vaping has on a person’s lungs after a teenager, who vaped for just three years, had them removed.
When first introduced, vaping was presented as an alternative to those trying to kick their smoking addiction.
But fast forward a decade or so, and vaping became a whole new addiction on its own.
It’s particularly popular among Gen Z, who were just teenagers when the products started sneakily being marketed towards younger people.
With their bright colors and fruity array of flavors, it is unsurprising that vaping has become increasingly prevalent among young people.
But shocking images of a teenagers lungs, who vaped for just three years, show the devastating impact the addiction can really have.
‘I didn’t realise how bad it was’
LeeRay King was just 14 years old when he first became addicted to disposable vapes.
Keen to keep things a secret, the habit became one that he hid from family members for more than a year.
At the height of his addiction, King claimed that he was using up to four disposable vapes a week – noting that he used them quite literally ‘all day every day.’
But it was in August last year, when the now 17-year-old realized the reality of what he had been putting his body through.
Rushed to hospital
One night, King woke up in the middle of the night in excruciating pain on his left side, and found himself struggling to breathe.
Mom Kylee Jope said: “I woke up in the morning to hundreds of missed calls and messages from LeeRay to say he was struggling to breathe.
“He said his chest and left side was really sore and it hurts to breathe.
“I decided to take him to hospital and he keeled over in the front seat of the car and burst into tears in excruciating pain.”
When King arrived at the hospital, doctors took an ECG and x-ray scans, and it was in that moment that the mom and son learnt that his left lung had collapsed.
But things just got worse.
In the months following, his lung collapsed a further four times, which led surgeons to perform a pleurodesis.
It’s a procedure that creates a strong adhesion between the lung and the chest wall to prevent the re-accumulation of fluid.
Yet sadly, the operation failed.
Damaged chunk of lung removed
When the operation proved to be unsuccessful, the teen underwent a procedure to remove the lining of the chest wall, before doctor’s eventually decided to remove a damaged chunk of his lung.
His mom said: “When we picked it up, LeeRay pulled it out and we were both like ‘oh my god’.
“It was the damaged piece of the lung that they had removed.”
Like many others, the pair never ‘realised’ that vaping could be so dangerous.
She added: “You’re pretty much intentionally drowning your insides.
“Seeing my son go through that was horrifying.”
‘I got peer pressured’
King admitted that he was ‘peer pressured’ into trying a vape when he was just 14, which proved to be the catalyst for his addiction.
“I didn’t like it at first but then got hooked on it within the first week,” he said.
Speaking about his operation to remove part of his lung, the 17-year-old added: “What they found made me realise I had fully damaged my lung. It was because of vaping and how much I was doing it a day.”
Following the ordeal, King is using his experience to warn others, specifically young people, of the real dangers of vaping.
He said: “I actually went and talked to one of the primary schools near where I live. I don’t want them going through what I went through.
“It was a pain that no one at a young age should be going through. I would tell anyone don’t do it.”
After the pain and procedures, King claimed he will never touch another vape again in his life, and encourages others to join him on that journey.
Related Article: Teenager Almost Dies After Sharing Vapes And Drinks With Friends On Night Out
Related Article: People Vow To Never Buy Disposable Vapes Again After Seeing How They’re Made
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