22-Year-Old Says Vaping Addiction Caused His Lungs To Collapse

The prevalence of vaping has increased significantly in recent years, with many people perceiving it as a safer alternative to smoking. However, a chilling incident involving a 22-year-old man has brought attention to the potential risks associated with vaping.

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Jonathan Belcher, who began vaping at the age of 17, developed an addiction that became so severe that he was consuming the equivalent of 20 cigarettes daily.

However, last month, the 22-year-old woke up experiencing breathlessness and intense pain in his left shoulder, describing it as "a balloon about to pop". 

“I woke up dying [that morning]. I was terrified and I just knew something was really wrong but I didn’t know what,” Belcher, from Covington, Virginia, said.

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“It felt like my shoulder was a balloon about to pop. I was really short of breath and any breath I took made the shoulder hurt worse but I didn't realise why.”

Filled with terror, Jonathan was rushed to the hospital, where he broke down in tears upon hearing the doctors' revelation that his left lung had a hole in it. 

"It was only two minutes to the hospital, but that was the longest and scariest two minutes of my life. I was truly looking death in the face.”

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Trapped air was beginning to crush it and his heart as part of the condition known as a pneumothorax.

Surgeons then inserted a tube to push out the air, but when his lung failed to heal naturally, they removed an upper quarter to close up the hole.

"The moment they said, 'you can call your mum, your lung has collapsed and it's really severe', I just broke down crying."

"I will never forget when I called my mum, and the way she screamed and cried."

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After recovering, the healthcare worker has promised to never use a vape again.

Reflection on his experience, he stated: "It sounds horrible, but I would really use any vape I could get my hands on. It was just so addictive."

"I smoked the equivalent of about 20 cigarettes a day."

"On my medical records, it's labeled that I had a spontaneous tension in the thorax from vaping."

Jonathan, who was released from the hospital on May 9, mentioned that although his lungs can now function independently, they will remain weaker for the rest of his life.

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The former "addict", aims to increase awareness regarding the potential risks associated with using such devices. His goal is to prevent others from enduring the same traumatic experience.

Jonathan said: "I have a really hard time being able to sleep - I wake up all through the night with really bad sweats."

"I've gone from being able to do normal things without getting winded to having to sit down after a phone call to catch my breath."

"I've absolutely quit vaping."

"The whole experience was terrifying, painful and so bad that I will never touch a device that produces smoke ever again."

He added: "I completely understand that it's very hard to quit and the bottom line is it's addictive."

"But after the pain that I went through, the trauma that it created and the problems that it has made in my life since, the best advice I could give for trying to quit is think that this will happen to you."