A “TERRIFIED” dad has issued a warning to other parents after he claims his daughter nearly died when vaping burst a hole in her lung.
Mark Blight rushed Kyla Blight to hospital after receiving a phone call that she had collapsed and turned 'blue' while sleeping over at a friend's house.
After nearly having a cardiac arrest, the 17-year-old received a five-and-a-half-hour surgery to remove part of her lung and spent two further weeks in hospital before she could return home.
A small air blister known as a pulmonary bleb had developed on the top of Kyla's lungs and it is thought her excessive vaping caused this to burst and led to her lung collapsing.
The student, who began vaping at just 15, believed the habit to be 'harmless' and would get through an entire 4,000 puff vape a week, which is the equivalent to 400 cigarettes.
However, Kyla vows the ordeal has 'scared' her away from touching disposable vapes from now on.
Full-time carer Mark took to Facebook to spread awareness of his daughter's “life-threatening” experience, urging young people to “throw away vapes” because “it's not worth it”.
Mark, who lives in Egremont, Cumbria, said: "Her lung collapsed this time due to the hole. They put a drain in her. She's a little girl who doesn't like needles. She screamed. She was close to having a cardiac arrest.
"They rushed us into Newcastle, and she had the operation on Tuesday. It was a five-and-a-half-hour operation. She'd had a seizure on the operating table.
"I was talking to the surgeon, and he was saying about these blebs that can form on the lungs. They think it is the throw away vapes that burst these blebs and puncture a hole in your lungs. Apparently, it's a big thing now. He's done a lot of operations like this.
"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.
"I would say to parents, watching your kid do this, you're going to go through what I went through. It's just not worth it.
"For kids, they don't understand until it happens to them. That's why I wrote on my Facebook. I'm going to have to make young kids aware of this."
Kyla admitted she began using disposable vapes aged 15 after seeing her friends at school doing it and began using it every day, getting through 4,000 puffs a week after thinking it was 'harmless'.
However, the student revealed the experience has 'terrified' her and opened her eyes to the dangers of using e-cigarettes which she now 'won't touch'.
Kyla said: "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.
"Every day 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.
"I was terrified. We went in there thinking we were only going to be in there for a few hours but ended up being there for two weeks having surgeries and all this."
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