Jordan Brielle has warned others to stay clear of vaping
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A woman is urging people to stop vaping "any way you can" after she was left fighting for her life when her lungs collapsed and filled with "black fluid."
Jordan Brielle, from Cincinnati, US, switched from smoking cigarettes to vaping in 2021.
However, she quickly became addicted, and by the time she was 32, she was spending $500 a week on e-cigarettes.
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Jordan, who works as a residential assistant, admitted that her vape pen became a constant companion.
She took it everywhere, even to bed when she went to sleep and into the shower with her.
But by mid-November, Brielle started having trouble breathing and felt an uncomfortable "heaviness" in her chest.
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"At first, I thought it was just a respiratory infection or bronchitis, so I kept going to the hospital with breathing problems," she explained.
"I had a horrible cough and was going to the hospital two or three times a week for help. I had little to no voice. Each time they would send me home.
"It felt like there were 80lbs of pressure just laying on my chest. I'd never felt so sick in my life. My body was swelling up from my ankles to my kneecaps.
Jordan Brielle began vaping in 2021
Kennedy News and Media
"I kept going to the hospital because I was progressively getting worse."
Brielle continued, "My skin was turning grey, I couldn't focus, I was very discombobulated. It was hurting to walk.
"I could barely do anything. Nobody knew what was actually wrong with me. I felt like I was dying."
Despite suffering from both COVID and pneumonia, she says she kept vaping, even as her health worsened.
In May, things took a terrifying turn. Her partner found her unresponsive with "black mucus" coming out of her mouth and nose, and she was rushed to the hospital.
"When he went to wake me up [before a night shift], he said there was black mucus coming out of my mouth and my nose.
"He said I was gasping but couldn't catch my breath. I was unresponsive and had a faint pulse," Jordan recalled.
"He began sucking the sputum out of my nose and mouth to try and give me CPR. He called 911 because the CPR wasn't working. I don't remember anything."
At the hospital, doctors suctioned 67 ounces (about 2 liters) of "black fluid" from her lungs and placed her in a medically induced coma for 11 days.
She was on a ventilator during this time.
Brielle was placed into a medically induced coma for 11 days
Kennedy News and Media
Doctors told her family that her left lung had fully collapsed, while her right lung had partially collapsed.
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"There was at least two litres of fluid on my lungs. In hospital, they told me my lungs were extremely damaged from smoking and vaping," Brielle said.
She also revealed that she now suffers from a minor brain injury due to the lack of oxygen.
Jordan says she feels incredibly "grateful" to be alive and credits the doctors for saving her life.
"They told me if I'd waited any longer, I wouldn't have been here. I haven't touched a vape since," she added.
"I would say to anyone else quit any way you can. Do it for your health, your family, your life, your lungs - whatever motivates you, use that reason and stop.
"I wouldn't wish what I'd been through on anyone else."