KUALA LUMPUR: A British teenager nearly died after her lung collapsed due to vaping, undergoing a five-and-a-half hour surgery to remove part of her lung to save her.
Metro reported Kyla Blight, 17, thought her habit was harmless until the morning her lung collapsed, caused by excessive vaping rupturing a small air blister, also called a pulmonary bleb, on her lungs.
Her father, Mark Blight said he got a call saying his daughter had collapsed and turned 'blue' during a sleepover at a friend's house early on May 11.
After nearly going into cardiac arrest, she underwent a five-and-a-half-hour surgery to remove part of her lung.
"It was terrifying for me. I've cried like a baby. It was horrible to watch. I've been with her the whole time.'
"It was life-threatening. It really did threaten her life because she was so close to having a cardiac arrest on that Friday.
"They said she went blue. They thought she'd gone," the father said as quoted by Metro.
According to the news report, she had been vaping since 15 when she saw schoolmates pick it up.
"When I was 15, it started becoming a popular thing. All my friends were doing it. I just thought it would be harmless and that I would be fine.
"Everyday I would use the 4,000-puff ones and I would go through them in about a week.
"I honestly thought they were harmless and wouldn't do anything to anyone, even though I had seen so many things about it. I just feel like everyone has that same view.
"But now I won't touch them. I wouldn't go near them. The situation has really scared me out of them," she was quoted as saying.
Following the incident, he father warned other young people to 'throw away vapes' because 'it's not worth it'.