Man, 29, who woke up with stabbing chest pain, is shocked as ‘heart attack’ turns out to be a vaping injury

A man who feared he was having a heart attack was shocked to learn his vaping addiction was to blame.

Jordan Snowdon, from Sunderland, was admitted to hospital with a collapsed lung, causing stabbing pain in his chest.

Doctors believe the vapor was responsible for his terrifying ordeal, which left the 29-year-old fearing he was going to die.

Mr Snowdon, a fisherman, has been told it could take months or even years for him to fully recover.

He says he will never vape or smoke again and urges anyone addicted to cheap gadgets to quit.

In his search for a less harmful alternative to smoking, Snowdon swapped cigarettes for e-cigarettes five years ago.

Initially, he used e-cigarettes sporadically because he enjoyed the habit. But from 2022 onwards, his habit intensified out of boredom.

At the height of Mr Snowdon’s addiction, he would never be seen without a vape in his hand and he had no intention of stopping.

But in March, while at his mother’s home, he woke up with a “sharp pain” in his chest that made it difficult for him to breathe.

Recalling the moment that changed his life, he said: ‘I had gone to my mother’s house that morning and I felt tired, so I lay down on the bed in my old room and fell asleep.

‘I woke up with a sharp pain. I felt like someone had grabbed my heart, so I screamed for my mother.

‘I couldn’t talk or breathe properly and I fell to the floor and I thought I was having a heart attack.’

Mr Snowdon added: ‘I called 111 and my heart was racing. It felt like my heart was being squeezed and I couldn’t breathe.

“I was so scared and I thought I was going to die at this point.”

Scans taken at Sunderland Royal Hospital showed he had a collapsed right lung – pneumothorax.

It occurs when there is a hole in the lung through which oxygen escapes. As such, air becomes trapped in space between the lung and the chest wall.

Most commonly, collapsed lungs are caused by gunshot wounds, rib fractures, and ultra-high altitude trekking. However, vaping is strongly linked to the injury.

Mr Snowdon wanted the trapped air to be drained from his chest.

He was then taken to Newcastle Freeman Hospital where surgeons performed keyhole surgery.

Mr Snowdon added: ‘I was told I needed an x-ray straight away and they (the doctors) confirmed that my right lung had collapsed.

‘They (the doctors) said it was one of the worst lung collapses they had ever seen.

‘They described it as if you were given a bag of chips and you sucked it in, that’s what my lung looked like.

“I was talking about vaping and they said I fit all three categories for spontaneous lung collapse. I’m tall, skinny and I smoke.

“They (the doctors) said this happened because of vaping. I started crying my eyes out when I heard that my lung had collapsed.

‘I’m a carp angler and I love fishing because it benefits my mental health. I thought I’d never be able to do this again.’

Experts have previously suggested that people who are tall and thin and who went through a period of rapid growth as children are at greater risk of developing a hole in the lung.

This is due to the extra stretch placed on the lungs by a sharp growth spurt, they claim.

After his operation, Mr Snowdon also had a 12ml suction tube placed in his chest to keep his lung inflated.

After resigning on April 15, he is now recovering at home.

He said: ‘What happened is life-changing. It’s devastating. I like being outside.

‘I’m still waiting for my lung to recover, two weeks after my operation. They said it could take weeks, months or even years, it just depends.

‘I haven’t smoked for three weeks now and they said if I do it will cause an infection.

“People need to put down the fumes and stop smoking. It’s a fashion sense right now.

‘People just vape because their friends do or because they just like the taste.

‘They don’t look at the dangers of it. If I knew this could have happened, I would never have touched a vape in my life.”

Last month the government moved a step closer to abolishing disposable vapes as part of a crackdown on youth vaping, after years of impassioned pleas to tackle what has been called an ‘epidemic’.

Under the proposals, which MPs voted in favor by 383 to 67, it is expected that e-cigarettes will be limited to just four flavors, sold in plain tobacco packaging and displayed out of sight of children.

In addition, new fines will also be imposed on shops that illegally sell vapes to children.

Rising rates of use among children have led to fears that younger generations are sleepwalking into a public health crisis.

Data shows that one in five children have tried vaping, while the number of young people using the devices has tripled in the past three years.

This is despite the fact that it is illegal for under 18s to sell a vape.

E-cigarettes allow people to inhale nicotine in a vapor, which is produced by heating a liquid.

YOULike traditional cigarettes, they do not contain tobacco or produce tar or carbon – two of the most dangerous elements and part of the reason why they are considered a safer alternative.

However, the long-term effects of vaping still remain a mystery.

Last month, MailOnline also revealed that the number of adverse side effects linked to vaping reported to UK regulators has now surpassed 1,000, five of which were fatal.

All five deaths were related to respiratory and cardiovascular health problems.

Some reported digestive problems such as diarrhea or flatulence, and even one case of rectal bleeding, linked to their vape use.