A SCHOOLBOY was rushed to hospital after vaping left him unable to breathe and coughing up blood.
Nathan Chesworth, 16, was studying for his GCSEs, when he began suffering from a bad cough.
HIs mum, Rebecca, is warning others against the potentially dangerous habitKennedy News
After multiple trips to the GP, the boy from Manchester was given antibiotics for a chest infection, but just days after taking them began coughing up blood.
Over the next few days, the teen became lethargic, began to be unable to get out of bed, and had noticeably lost weight.
“He looked dreadful,” his mum Rebecessa Chesworth said, “he wasn’t eating, he wasn’t drinking.”
The night before he was meant to go back to school in January, the avid cricket player’s lung collapsed while he was climbing the stairs leaving him unable to breathe.
“Petrified” Rebecca, 44, who works as a ward clerk, immediately called the out-of-hours GP and drove him straight to A&E at The Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan.
“I work in a hospital so I’ve seen people being really poorly,” she explained.
“I think I probably knew a little bit too much.”
After doing an x-ray, docs discovered he had a ‘pneumothorax‘ – a condition when air becomes trapped in the space between the lungs and the chest wall that can cause the lung to collapse.
Nathan stayed on the children’s ward for four days after having a tube interested into his lung to drain away any fluid in order to ‘re-aspirate’ the lung.
Not long after, the teen went back to hospital as his other lung collapsed and from here he was referred to Wythenshawe Hospital where he admitted to his mum he’d been vaping.
Rebecca, a mum-of-two said: “Straight away [the consultant] said ‘this is what happens when people vape, I’ve seen so many cases like this’.
She added: “[Nathan] told me and he showed me everything he had, I couldn’t believe it. I was in total shock.”
The teen admitted he’d been buying the £3 ‘tutti-frutti’ flavoured vapes after school – often while wearing his school uniform.
We all make mistakes but it’s what we do afterwards that’s important
Rebecessa Chesworth
“They’re brightly coloured and the kids are all walking around with them and like it’s ‘cool’,” the mum said.
“It’s like you’re not normal if you don’t do it at that age,” she added.
Since the hospital stays, Nathan and stopped vaping, Rebecca claims.
The cricket-loving teen has since recovered and has sworn of vapingKennedy News
“He’s been offered them again from friends at parties and he’s always said ‘no, why can’t you understand, I can’t have them?’ and he said he finds it really embarrassing,” she added.
‘He was really lucky’
Rebecca hopes in sharing her son’s story she can warn others about how dangerous and easily accessible vapes really are.
She said: “He was really lucky. He suffered afterwards mentally.”
Rebecca said: “He was really lucky. He suffered afterwards mentally.
“He’s not soft by any means but he was worried all the time and kept saying he didn’t want to end up back in the ICU.
“He really blamed himself and said ‘I know it’s all my own fault isn’t it, mum?’
“We all make mistakes but it’s what we do afterwards that’s important.”
Rebecca’s advise would be “just don’t do it.
“You think at that age, and I think everybody thinks really, that they’re invincible about lots of things.
“I’m not daft, I know we all do things that perhaps we shouldn’t but just don’t do it.
“You don’t realise how dangerous it is because you don’t know what’s in them.”
The 4 horrifying things that can happen to your body after vaping
VAPES were once hailed as miracle devices to help adults ditch cigarettes.
But while the devices don’t carry the same risks as tobacco, experts have warned that vaping might not be so harmless after all.
Here are five ways vaping could damage young users bodies:
1. It could slow down brain development
Vaping nicotine can permanently affect brain development in people under the age of 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It said that nicotine consumed during teenage years can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control, as well as increase the risk of addiction.
2. It could lead to tooth decay
Dr Michael Heffernan, a dentist at The Wessex Dental Specialist Care, said most vapes contain dangerous chemical that can harm your teeth and lead to decay.
Puffing on the devices could also lead to mouth dryness, creating an environment in which harmful bacteria can grow.
3. It could damage heart health
However, some of the chemicals found in vapes can be damaging to the heart, with the American Heart Association (AHA) stating that vaping is “as harmful to the body’s cardiovascular systems as cigarettes”.
4. It could cause lung disease
Vaping from a young age could leave children with breathing difficulties, with paediatric respiratory consultant Dr Mike McKean saying he’d seen reports of people developing lung disease related to vaping.
Researchers from the US also found that young people who vape are more at risk of bronchitis, inflammation of the airways, and shortness of breath.
Read more on how vaping can affect your health here.