Sean Tobin first began using e-cigarettes in 2018 at just 15, claiming the vape then ‘never left his hand’ in the years that followed.
Now aged 20, the fitness fanatic has had to undergo emergency surgery as a result of the habit, having part of his previously ‘healthy’ lung removed after it collapsed.
Claiming to go through one 5,000-puff disposable vape per week at the height of his habit, Sean says he would smoke heated tobacco and occasionally THC oil ‘constantly, from morning until night’.
Then, on July 20 this year, he felt a stabbing pain in his back whilst at work in Tilton, New Hampshire, US, and was rushed to a nearby urgent care centre to have his vitals checked.
Sean, from Manchester, New Hampshire, was terrified when doctors confirmed that the x-ray had shown that his right lung had collapsed, and he was taken to hospital in Concord for emergency treatment.
Doctors made an incision between his ribs and inserted a chest tube in an attempt to push out the trapped air that was crushing his lung and chest, but the lung failed to heal naturally, meaning Sean had to endure surgery.
The gruelling procedure saw surgeons chopping off a small portion from the top of his lung and stapling it back together, gluing the organ to his chest wall to prevent it from collapsing again.
Disturbing photos taken prior to the surgery using an endoscope show the surface of Sean’s lung covered in black spots, which he claims were carbon deposits caused by vaping heavily over the past five years.
Given he previously visited the gym up to seven times a week and trained as a mixed martial arts fighter, he found these images extremely ‘scary’, and regrets ever starting vaping.
Sean said: ‘When I stepped up into the van, it felt like I pulled a muscle in my back. The tension there was pretty bad…
‘It was really scary, because I felt like I’d done it to myself. It was years of me just not treating my lungs how they should be treated.
‘After they put the chest tube into my chest, it was two days later and the hole in my lung wasn’t closing, so they decided to do surgery.
‘They sandpapered my chest wall with medical-grade sandpaper. They had to get it gooey and sticky so it would stay together. Now my lung is glued to my chest wall so it can’t collapse again.’
When the camera was placed into his chest cavity ahead of surgery, the carbon deposits revealed came as a huge shock to the young man.
‘As soon as I saw it, I got very upset with myself,’ he said.
‘I was very sad and thought “f*ck I did this to my own lung”. My cardio was so good. I was so healthy and I shouldn’t have started vaping.
‘I was just very upset with myself, and I was having a hard time. I’d permanently damaged my lungs, and I was here because I’d done this to my lungs.’
Sean was discharged from hospital a week later, and is now facing a month-long recovery period before he can begin to enjoy normal life again.
Although he says doctors have told him he will likely make a full recovery, the patient admits that he is unsure of the long-term effects.
Sean said: ‘Now I have to take it really easy for a month, and I can’t lift anything that weighs more than 20lb.
‘I train very consistently for MMA, and that’s my whole life. My job is also very physically demanding so I can’t work either. I’ve just got to sit still, and that sucks.
‘I don’t know the long-term effects I’m going to have from this, and whether my other lung is going to be okay… I can’t smoke or vape ever again. It’s a big risk if I do.’
As he hopes to one day make a living from MMA, Sean feared his collapsed lung may thwart his dreams, especially since he previously believed his regular workouts would prevent him experiencing vaping-related complications.
He said: ‘I remember seeing TikTok videos of a guy with a collapsed lung from vaping, and I was like, “that’s not going to happen to me. This dude’s a bum, and I’m not”. And then it happened to me.
‘You never think something is going to happen to you, until it happens to you.’
Millions now vape worldwide, and a number of instances of lung collapse in young people over the past year that patients claim are linked to vaping have been reported.
Conditions like ‘popcorn lung’ have also hit headlines, with doctors describing rising e-cigarette usage among young people as an ‘epidemic’.
Although vaping is considered to be less dangerous than cigarette smoking, it’s not ‘risk-free’, and the NHS recommends gradually reducing both the frequency of vaping and the strength of nicotine in the e-liquid for those looking to kick the habit.
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