A young man recounted his frightening experience of collapsing in a shopping center due to a collapsed lung, which he attributes to vaping for almost ten years. Raymond Dehn, 24, began vaping at 15 after obtaining devices from a store that did not verify IDs. The incident occurred while he was out for a meal with his girlfriend, feeling a sharp pain between his shoulder blades.
Following his collapse and subsequent hospitalization, doctors diagnosed Raymond with a spontaneous pneumothorax, a condition increasingly observed in young individuals who vape. Raymond, a salesman from Buffalo, New York, expressed his shock and pain from the experience, emphasizing that he had never been a regular smoker before transitioning to vaping.
Raymond’s lung required four nights in the hospital with a chest tube to aid reinflation. He described the process as painful and draining, with lingering physical and mental effects. Raymond now advocates against vaping, having switched to nicotine pouches and edibles as alternatives. He hopes his story will raise awareness among young people about the potential risks associated with vaping.