British Woman Who Started Vaping At 15 Diagnosed With Lung Cancer After Doctors 'Turned Her Away Eight Times'

Kayley Boda says she started vaping when she was 15. Years later, she was diagnosed with lung cancer at 21 and told she had 18 months to live.

The 22-year-old retail assistant from Manchester, UK, said her first worrying sign came in January 2025, when she began coughing up a brown substance with 'grainy bits' in it. At the time, she said she was using one 600-puff vape a week.

Kayley said she went to doctors several times and was told she had a chest infection. She claims she was turned away eight times before she began coughing up blood, which finally led to further checks.

After seven biopsies, Kayley was told she had lung cancer. She later had surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, followed by chemotherapy.

By February 2026, she was given the all clear. But two months later, doctors said the cancer had returned in the pleural lining, and Kayley was told she had just 18 months to live.

She is now trying to raise money for a clinical trial in Germany that she hopes could help extend her life. She has also warned others about vaping risks, while saying doctors have not been able to give her a definite answer on what caused her cancer.

Kayley Boda has been told that she only has 18 months to live SWNS

Kayley said: "A few months after I switched from reusable vapes to disposable ones, I started coughing up brown, grainy mucus."

"Doctors turned me away eight times with a chest infection. Then I started coughing up blood, so they did an X-ray and found a shadow on my lung."

"They told me they were 99 percent sure with me being so young that it wasn't cancer, so not to worry about it."

"When I got the results back and they told me it was lung cancer, it felt so surreal."

"Before the diagnosis, I was very naive and thought that something like this would never happen to me."

"I had surgery to remove half of my right lung and after the surgery, I started chemo and I had a terrible reaction to it."

"I couldn't lift my head up, I was throwing up blood, I was urinating blood. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I lost 4kg in four days."

"When I got the all clear it felt amazing, but just two months later I was told the cancer had come back, and I have 18 months to live."

"No words can describe how I feel, I'm 22, this isn't meant to happen to somebody my age."

"I've put the cancer down to vaping because my symptoms started a few months after I started disposable vapes, and there's no lung cancer in my family."

"I haven't vaped for three months, I've made my partner stop, I've made my mum stop, I'm urging all my friends to stop."

"Stay off the vapes, because they will catch up with you."

Kayley is now urging people not to vape SWNS

What health guidance says about vaping

Kayley believes vaping may have played a role in her illness, but her doctors have not given her a confirmed cause. That distinction matters, because a single case cannot prove exactly what caused someone's cancer.

The NHS says vaping is not completely risk-free, and that the long-term risks are not yet clear. It also says e-cigarettes do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, which are two of the most harmful parts of tobacco smoke.

For young people, the guidance is much clearer. The NHS says vaping is not for children or teenagers because their developing lungs and brains are more sensitive to its effects.

Kayley said she had smoked a little as a teenager and began using reusable vapes when she was 15.

She said she only moved on to disposable vapes a few months before her cancer symptoms began. In the UK, single-use disposable vapes were banned from sale and supply from June 1, 2025, with the government saying the move was partly aimed at reducing youth vaping GOV.UK.

Before the coughing started, Kayley developed a rash across her body in November 2024. Doctors first put it down to shingles, chicken pox, or scabies.

"I got treated for all three, and nothing worked," she said.

"It got the point where I was cutting myself from scratching so hard."

A few months later, she began coughing up dark brown mucus with grainy bits in it. She compared the texture to sugar.

"At first I thought it was normal, because I vaped a lot, so I brushed it off," she said.

When the cough did not go away, Kayley went to the doctors. She said she was told it may have been scarring from pneumonia or another chest infection.

In March 2025, she began coughing up bright red blood and went back for medical help. This time, doctors gave her a chest X-ray and told her they had found a shadow on the lower part of her right lung. Symptoms that seem like an infection can sometimes lead to a far more serious cancer diagnosis after routine checks, which is why unusual changes are worth pushing to have examined.

Disposable vapes have been banned in the UK since June 2025 Getty Stock

Over the next four months, Kayley had seven biopsies so doctors could take samples from the 'shadow' they had found.

She said doctors told her not to worry. But in August, when she went in for the biopsy results, she was told she had stage one lung cancer.

In September, Kayley had surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, along with the surrounding lymph nodes.

During the operation, doctors upstaged Kayley's cancer from stage one to stage three after finding cancer in six nearby lymph nodes.

After surgery, Kayley struggled to breathe properly and had to learn how to walk again.

She finished chemotherapy in February 2026 and was told she was all clear, which left her feeling elated after months of treatment.

The 22-year-old finished chemo in February 2026 SWNS

A month later, Kayley began having extreme chest pains. Doctors told her she had pleural effusion, which means fluid had built up around the lungs.

The fluid was removed, but tests then showed the cancer had returned to the pleural lining of her lungs. Kayley was told she had 18 months to live.

"The oncologist said this is so rare, and usually something they see in patients that are 80 years old," she said.

Kayley said doctors could not give her a definitive cause for the cancer, but told her smoking and vaping would not have helped.

Since the diagnosis, she has stopped vaping and is urging other people to stop as well.

Kayley is now hoping to raise $27,000 for treatment in Germany, where she hopes to access a clinical trial that could help prolong her life.

If you have been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or through its live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.