Arkansas teen is rushed to the emergency room after constant vaping caused his urine to turn BLACK

An Arkansas teen became seriously ill after his vaping addiction caused such severe dehydration that his urine turned black.

Jake Melton, 15, was rushed to the ER earlier this month after developing extreme dizziness, nausea and bloodshot eyes that made it look like he was “high on drugs.”

He arrived at school earlier in the day feeling “like everything in my body hurt,” and visited the school nurse who suggested his mother, Melony Sample, take him straight to the emergency room.

At the hospital he fell unconscious, causing alarm among doctors who conducted a barrage of urgent tests.

The results showed that Jake was suffering from extreme dehydration and was at risk of kidney damage – which doctors said was a direct result of the vaping he was constantly using all day.

Despite remaining unconscious for more than 30 hours and his mother begging the teen to stop, Jake said he is ‘addicted’ and has no plans to quit his deadly habit.

Nicotine, present in some vapes, has long been known to dehydrate the body, mainly due to its impact on the complicated balance of fluid and salt in your body.

E-cigarettes also contain liquid containing propylene glycol, a substance that attracts and retains water molecules in the body. This means that when you vape, the substance absorbs water from the body and prevents it from being absorbed, leading to dehydration.

Melony believes her son’s dehydration was exacerbated by his work.

The teen works part-time laying bricks and Melony said he over-exerted himself, smoking excessively while at work because he was “hitting the vape” instead of eating and drinking.

The mother of three was unaware that her son was smoking the equivalent of five cigarettes a day and had also started using menthol nicotine capsules, which have been linked to higher levels of toxic microparticles.

Melony said, “(Vaping) literally dehydrated him so much he ended up in the hospital. His urine was black.

‘I think he was vaping a lot, but he didn’t mean to do it that way. I found that out because he took the vapor out while we were gone. I now know that he was vaping at school and that was not his intention. I thought it was under control.

‘Especially when you’re working, vaping will strengthen you and make you feel like you can do more than you can, and you’ll push yourself too hard and dehydrate more quickly.

“Then, instead of drinking something, they will reach their nicotine level. Instead of eating, they will use their vapor. Then they lose control. They don’t know what they’re doing.’

Jake says he started vaping two or three years ago after seeing students at his school smoking in the bathroom and wanted to “fit in.”

However, it quickly became an ‘addiction’ and he switched from flavored nicotine to menthol.

‘I used all kinds of vapes, Juuls, Elf Bars, Juice Heads, Vuses and more. I eventually switched from flavored nicotine to menthol,” he said.

Jake used a five percent menthol nicotine capsule, equivalent to about twenty cigarettes, and smoked about one capsule every four days.

“Every morning it felt like I had to push it to be fully awake,” he said.

Melony revealed that her son had complained one morning of feeling ill and after a visit to the school nurse, two fumes were found in his backpack, which Jake said he kept safe for a friend.

She worried her son’s fumes had been spiked with an illegal substance because he “looked like he was on drugs.”

Police were called in to check the vape pens for drugs as they were ‘trapped’ and tied down, but tests showed no evidence of drugs and revealed Jake’s symptoms were extreme consequences of excessive vaping.

Melony said: “Jake went to school and they called me straight away and said it looked like he was on drugs. They asked what he had taken, but of course he had taken nothing.

“They had a constable and a chief inspector in the office and they searched Jake’s bag and found two vapes. They sent them away to be drug tested because they were determined something had been put into his vape.”

Jake was rushed to hospital and after tests discovered her son was suffering from extreme dehydration caused by excessive smoking.

After sleeping for about 30 hours and receiving fluids through an IV, Jake was discharged, but his mother admitted she was “afraid” he would continue vaping because he “doesn’t remember anything.”

Melony said: ‘It was a terrible experience. We went to the ER and they had him tested for everything, but all he had was the vape.

‘I was awake for over thirty hours and he slept that long. He didn’t want to talk. When he woke up, he curled up into a ball and shuddered and jerked.

‘He’s still very confused. We’re home, but he’s still coming and going. He doesn’t remember anything about it. It was like he was almost asleep. I think he thinks I’m just mean now.’

Taking to Facebook, stay-at-home mum Melony shared her son’s terrifying ordeal and warned other parents about the dangers of their children vaping.

In the post, Melony said she feared for her son’s life and vowed that “every vape I have seen or will see in the future will be broken and destroyed.”

Melony told other parents to beware of their children wearing hoodies in warm weather, as she thinks this is a sign they are likely vaping, using the garment to conceal the e-cigarette in their hands.

The mother, who doesn’t vape herself, admitted she didn’t know how often her teen used vape pens.

She also revealed she wants e-cigarettes to be ‘banned all together’ and hopes to raise awareness of her son’s terrifying experience to encourage parents to stop their children from using the products.

Despite the dangerous ordeal, Jake admits he plans to continue vaping because the potential risks don’t “bother” him.

He said: ‘Being in hospital may have been scary for some, but I would continue to do it knowing the risks and side effects. I don’t care.’