After nearly a decade of vaping, a man found himself in the hospital and is now warning others about the potential dangers.
Raymond Dehn began vaping at the age of 15, buying disposable vapes from a local store that overlooked age verification.
At 24, he continued his vaping routine and incorporated cannabis THC pens into his habit.
On September 13, while in his car, Raymond was vaping before heading into a mall with his girlfriend for some food after work.
Inside the mall, he was suddenly struck with an intense pain between his shoulder blades and collapsed.
He recounted: “I remember taking a hit on my vape and my THC pen in the car and coughing, which isn’t abnormal. But then this searing pain hit both my shoulder blades and would just not go away.”
“I tried to power through, and we started to walk back to the mall, but the pain grew so rapidly. I was holding in screams. About a minute later, while walking in the mall, I passed out,” he added.
An ambulance took him to the hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a spontaneous pneumothorax.
An x-ray revealed that his lung had collapsed.
Raymond expressed: “I was honestly so shocked. It was so scary to think I suddenly had a broken lung, especially being so young and healthy.”
Though the doctor couldn’t pinpoint an exact cause, she noted that Raymond was one of the several young patients with similar symptoms, all of whom vaped.
Raymond shared: “The only common denominator between all of us was that we vaped.”
Describing the ordeal as ‘terrifying and extremely painful’, he is now advocating for others to be cautious about vaping.
Identifying as a ‘healthy young man’, he surmised that his lung collapse was linked to his vaping habit.
After being discharged from the hospital, he quit vaping and now ‘implore other young people to do the same’.
In his teens, he wasn’t much of a smoker but believes that vaping’s ‘convenience’ and discreet nature attract many young users.
Raymond spent four nights in the hospital with a chest tube to reinflate his lung, and views the experience as a ‘wake-up call’. He now lives with the fear of recurrence.
He stated: “Every few minutes I get this overwhelming fear it’ll happen again. The whole experience is sticking with me in a really big way. It’s why I want to advocate so strongly for other young people to be aware.”
He has since switched to alternative methods to satisfy his cravings, avoiding vapes entirely.
Raymond explained: “I’ve been using ZYN nicotine pouches ever since and have switched to edibles for whenever I want some THC. I’m taking this as my wake up call and taking it seriously.”