Girl Who Fell Asleep With Vape Claims She's Got 'Popcorn Lung' And Could Need Oxygen Tank By 30

A 20-year-old woman who admitted to being too "attached" to her vape and dozing off with it in her hand has been diagnosed with "popcorn lung" as a result.

The former store maintenance coordinator admitted to never smoking but started using disposable vapes around a year and a half ago because they were "in."

Credit: Kennedy News and Media

Abby, from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, eventually developed such a dependence on the substance that she would consume one disposable vape a day, which is equal to 140 cigarettes each week.

Her habit cost her £135 a month or about £4.50 per serving.

Nevertheless, just like smoking traditional cigarettes, vaping can have a negative impact on one's health, as Abby was about to learn.

Credit: Kennedy News and Media

When Abby unexpectedly found herself last month unable to breathe properly due to a persistent cough, she immediately made her way to Milton Keynes University Hospital for treatment.

"I was laying there in the walk-in center panicking and crying because I couldn't catch my breath. I couldn't walk and my cough was just awful," Abby said of the ordeal.

"It was really scary. Initially, I didn't know what was wrong, I knew I had asthma but it wasn't a feeling of an asthma attack.”

"They called an ambulance and took me straight to resus because they couldn't get my breathing under control."

The 20-year-old was given oxygen, X-rays, and medication after being brought to resus.

Doctors later determined that Abby had "popcorn lung," also known as "bronchiolitis obliterans," a disorder that produces airway inflammation and affects breathing.

She claims that doctors warned her that if she didn't give up vaping within the next ten years, she may need an oxygen machine to breathe by the time she was thirty, which she describes as a major "wake-up call."

Abby wants vapers to give up their devices or at the very least cut back on their use because she still struggles with her chest on a daily basis.

"When the doctor said it was caused by vaping I was quite shocked because all my friend's vape, everyone from 18 to 25, a lot of people always carry a disposable vape around," she explained.

"So for it to happen to me and not anyone else I know, I was a bit like 'what?'”

"I think you kind of look past the dangers. I think it shocked a lot of people, my best friend threw her vape away as soon as I went into the hospital.”

"I think a lot of people think that it's not going to happen to them."

She added: "Vaping is really not worth it. I struggle with my chest every single day now and I know a lot of other people do as well and they're still vaping.”

"I'd urge people to throw their vapes in the bin. I know a lot of people use them as stress relief because you get a nicotine rush from it, and that's all fine but just reduce how much you use it.”

"I think because it's always in your hand, it's not like a cigarette where you go out and light it, that's why people use them so much."

Despite feeling much better, she continues to take eight steroids every morning and will do so until her next visit review.