A 12-year-old girl who was placed in an induced coma after vaping has spoken out about her terrifying ordeal.
As previously reported, the Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) group has just launched a compelling awareness campaign to shed light on the risks associated with vaping.
As part of this campaign, NICHS reached out to Mary Griffin, a mother whose daughter, Sarah, faced a life-threatening situation linked to vaping. The nightmarish sequence of events began on a seemingly ordinary Sunday night.
Mary recalls the troubling onset: "It was a Sunday night. Sarah said she didn't feel great. She started coughing but given her asthma history, we attributed it to the change in weather. Her coughing wasn't unusual, so she used her inhaler and nebulizer into Monday morning."
The severity of Sarah's condition became shockingly evident the next day when Mary received a distressing call. "She rang, barely able to speak, saying, 'I need a doctor or to go to the hospital,'" Mary recalled.
Sarah was swiftly rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital, and her rapidly deteriorating condition required immediate transfer to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Mary described the doctor's grim revelation: "The doctor showed me Sarah's X-ray. One lung was badly damaged, overburdening the other, and exacerbating her asthma. Coupled with an infection, her body was under immense strain." Sarah's condition was critical, necessitating the heart-wrenching decision of putting her in an induced coma.
For her family, the sight in the ICU was nearly unbearable. Mary said: "There were tubes, wires, and machines everywhere."
As a mother, she grappled with a sense of powerlessness, while trying to console her other children who were faced with the unthinkable possibility of losing their sister.
The path to recovery was filled with hurdles. "Sarah had machines breathing for her. Every time doctors stabilized one vital sign, another would falter," Mary recounted. After several tense attempts, Sarah was eventually brought out of her induced coma, marking the start of her arduous journey to recovery.
As reported by BBC News, Sarah has now spoken out about her ordeal and offered a stern warning to any kids and teenagers who are thinking of taking up the habit.
"Don't start doing it, because once you start doing it, you don't stop doing it," she said. "You only stop when you basically have to, when it's a life or death situation."
Sarah's mom also wanted to warn about the dangers of vaping, saying: "She's doing lung exercises and stuff you know, you'd expect an 80-year-old to be doing, not someone who is 12.
"People open your eyes, because this is happening all round, and possibly your child too. No matter what you're thinking, people like to think their kids aren't doing these things but the reality is very, very different."
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