Teen’s ’50-a-day’ vaping habit burned a hole in her lungs… just weeks after her sister nearly died from the same problem, her father claims
A teenage girl addicted to vaping who complained of trapped air was stunned to discover her lung had collapsed, just as her sister’s had weeks earlier, her father claims.
Tazmin Blight, 19, who smoked the equivalent of 50 cigarettes a day, was taken to hospital after experiencing ‘tightness’ in her chest.
Initially, doctors thought she was suffering from digestive problems, but they later told her that a small air bubble had developed in her lung and had burst, causing it to collapse.
Interestingly, the episode mirrored the issues Tamzin’s younger sister Kyla, 17, had faced just weeks earlier.
Their father Mark, from Egremont, Cumbria, recently appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to discuss Kyla’s experience after it was revealed by Mail Online.
Tazmin thought she had a respiratory infection, but doctors told her a burst alveolus had caused her lung to collapse
Tazmin (left) admitted she continued vaping even after her sister Kyla (right) nearly died
Sisters Tazmin (left) and Kyla (right) suffered similar medical fates within weeks of each other, according to their father Mark (pictured with them).
Tazmin said she carried her vape everywhere and smoked the nicotine equivalent of 500 cigarettes a day
Tazmin said she switched from disposable vapes to refillable ones, but now plans to quit
Of Tazmin he said: ‘It’s been an absolute nightmare. The coincidence is just unbelievable.
“It took me back to where I was a few weeks ago with Kyla. It’s just horrible. I’m still in shock from it.
“The doctors took us in right away because of what happened to Kyla. They told her she had a pneumothorax. That’s when little holes form in your lungs and they burst.
“Kyla’s was a really big one and Tazmin’s is a little one. We wanted to catch it early. The doctor said vapes were definitely the cause.”
Tazmin started using e-cigarettes when she was just 13 and says she continued vaping even after her sister’s terrifying near-death experience.
On June 29, she discovered her lung had collapsed, while Kyla was in the hospital on May 11.
Tazmin admitted that she carried her e-cigarette with her ‘all the time’. Despite seeing the dangers her sister faced with her own eyes, Tazmin ‘never believed’ the same thing would happen to her.
The administrative assistant drank a 10 ml bottle of e-liquid every five days, which gave her about 600 puffs a day, which is the equivalent of almost 50 cigarettes.
Tazmin’s sister Kyla (pictured) nearly died after her lung collapsed due to her vaping addiction
Kyla’s ordeal made headlines and she appeared on TV with her father Mark to talk about it
The girls’ father, Mark (pictured with Tazmin), wants vapes to be banned altogether
Father Mark said she was put on a clinical trial by the respiratory team at Carlisle Hospital. After a CT scan showed her lung inflation had reduced, the couple hope surgery to deflate her lungs won’t be necessary.
Mark said: ‘She may not need surgery if her lung can stand up on its own. She’s just lying in her room. She hasn’t done much for a while, she’s been off work for a couple of weeks now.
“Tazmin is really scared of vaping now, but she’s done really well not vaping.”
Tazmin said: ‘I never thought it would happen to me. I was absolutely shocked. I had in my mind it would just be trapped wind or something.
‘You never expect something like this to happen to you and it just happened to Kyla, so I didn’t expect it to be a collapsed lung either.
‘The pain started on Friday. I came home from work and had a lot of tightness in my chest and pain in my back and shoulders.
‘I thought I would try to sleep it off, but when I woke up it was still there. It was only on one side. When I got out of bed it hurt so much.
‘I thought I should get it checked out after what just happened to Kyla. She was way worse than me.
“I can’t wait until it’s resolved so I can breathe properly again and not have chest pain anymore.”
The teen said she recently swapped her disposable vapes for refillable ones and used to replace the liquid up to four times a day, but now plans to stop.
She said: ‘I’m trying to stop now. I thought it was a one-off thing that happened to Kyla, but now it’s happened to me too.
“It’s shown me now the long-term effects of these disposable or refillable vapes. It can happen to people at any time.”
Mark said: ‘I would like to see them banned altogether. These vapes are being marketed to children.
“You see them, just the way they taste and smell. I came across a cotton candy the other day. It’s not for me. It’s aimed at children.
“We know what vapes do to people, but there’s just no evidence. Until then, people will continue to buy these disposable things.”
“I’m really happy with what I’m doing to get this out in the open. People have stopped me on the street and said, ‘My daughter has now stopped vaping because of you.'”
Everything you need to know about e-cigarettes
How much nicotine is in an e-cigarette?
There are many different brands of e-cigarettes, with different nicotine levels.
The legal amount of nicotine in an e-liquid in the UK is 20mg/ml, which is equivalent to 600 to 800 puffs.
One of the UK’s most popular vapes, the Elf Bar 600 is advertised in 0mg, 10mg and 20mg nicotine strengths.
How many cigarettes are in an e-cigarette?
According to analysts, the Elf Bar 600 contains the equivalent of 48 cigarettes.
It’s good for 600 puffs before you have to throw it away. In theory, that’s one cigarette, instead of one puff.
According to experts, with many e-cigarettes, 100 puffs are equivalent to ten regular cigarettes.
Elf Bars are a brand of e-cigarettes that often come in bright colors and with kid-friendly names and flavors, such as Blue Razz Lemonade and Green Gummy Bear.
Is vaping better for your health than cigarettes?
According to the NHS, vaping products are considered better than cigarettes because users are exposed to fewer toxins and in lower concentrations.
The health agency adds that vaping instead of smoking reduces exposure to toxins that can cause cancer, lung disease and cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and heart attacks.
Public Health England, now defunct, published an independent expert review in 2015 which found that e-cigarettes are around 95 percent less harmful than cigarettes.
However, vaping is not without risk. Although the concentrations in tobacco products are much higher, e-cigarettes still contain harmful toxins, according to a study by researchers from the Medical University of Silesia in Poland.
And Dr. Onkar Mudhar, a London-based dentist who posts videos on TikTok, says Elf bars can cause gum inflammation, swelling and bleeding.
According to him, this is because nicotine dries out your mouth and reduces saliva production, which causes irritation due to the build-up of bacteria and food particles that cannot be washed away.
In 2022, nearly 350 hospital admissions were recorded in England due to vaping. The main cause is thought to be respiratory problems, such as shortness of breath, chest pain, pneumonia and in severe cases respiratory failure.