(RightWing.org) – The United States takes a more proactive approach than the United Kingdom regarding protections for young people from the perils of vaping. For instance, the legal age to purchase vaping products in the US is 21, and only 18 in the UK. Likewise, the US banned flavored cartridge-based products to reduce their appeal to youth — the UK doesn’t restrict them. A recent report discussed a shocking nearly-fatal incident with a British teen who nearly lost her life to her vaping addiction.
On June 11, the Daily Mail UK published an article discussing the recent plight of 17-year-old Kyla Blight and her father, Mark Blight, and his message to other parents. The father of nine told the newspaper he went through hell and back with his daughter the last few weeks.
On May 11, Mark received an urgent phone call at 4:00 a.m. telling him Kyla had collapsed on the floor and turned blue at a friend’s house during an overnight sleepover. He went and picked her up and transported her to a hospital.
Upon their arrival, medical officials discovered Kyla had developed a pulmonary bleb, a small air blister, on the top of her lungs. One of them had burst, resulting in a collapsed lung.
Kyla’s heart stopped beating at the hospital, and doctors performed emergency surgery to remove an unspecified portion of one of her lungs. Mark told the Daily Mail UK the medical procedure took roughly five-and-a-half hours. He also noted that Kyla had a seizure on the operating table.
Mark said the surgeon talked to him about his daughter’s condition and said using disposable vaping devices can rupture pulmonary blebs. The doctor said when that happens, it can puncture a person’s lungs.
“Apparently, it’s a big thing now,” Mark said, adding that the surgeon told him that he had performed several surgical procedures like the one that saved his daughter’s life on other patients.
Stunningly, Mark told the British newspaper that his daughter would use an entire 4,000-puff vaping device per week. That’s the nicotine equivalent of smoking 400 cigarettes (20 packs).
Mark said he spends his time warning other parents about the dangers associated with vaping on his Facebook page. Kyla vowed to stop using vaping devices after her life-threatening experience.
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