Father-to-be, 31, claims vaping for one month caused lung to collapse

Father-to-be, 31, claims vaping for only one month caused his lung to collapse and it had to be ‘glued’ back inside his body

• WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Alex Gittins used vapes to try and quit smoking 
• He claims they caused one of his lungs to collapse and feared he would die 
• Read more: E-cigarettes linked to at least five deaths in the UK since 2010 

A father-to-be has claimed that vaping for just one month caused the collapse of his lung which had to be ‘glued’ back inside his body in a complex and gruelling surgery. 

Roofer Alex Gittins, 31, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, started vaping in April in a bid to quit smoking and began inhaling two 600-puff e-cigarettes a week.

But he became concerned when he developed a pain in his right-hand side after taking a puff of his vape on May 25. It comes as concerns are growing over the safety of vapes and e-cigarettes across the UK.

Mr Gittins, who was working in Leeds, Yorkshire, at the time, claims that the stabbing pain felt like a ‘stitch’ and that breathing in suddenly became very painful.

Just a few hours later he was lying in resuscitation at the Darlington Memorial Hospital in County Durham with a collapsed lung that left him breathless and at risk of death.

Have YOU suffered a health scare after vaping or using e-cigarettes? Email [email protected]. 

Ales Gittins, 31, a roofer from County Durham, began vaping in order to try and quit smoking

Mr Gittins was in hospital for 15 days after the sudden collapse of his lung last month

As the pain travelled to his left side and up towards his chest over the next hour and a half, Mr Gittins rushed to hospital fearing he was having a heart attack.

He said: ‘I went up to the receptionist and showed her that I was going grey and literally couldn’t breathe.

‘The doctor took me to an X-Ray room and I got a bit panicked. Then some doctors came in and they said they’d have to put a chest tube in because my lung had collapsed.

‘My right lung just wasn’t there anymore. It had no air in it whatsoever.’

Mr Gittins described his terror as his condition rapidly deteriorated: ‘I was scared. I’d just texted my partner saying that I was going to hospital because I had a few pains in my chest but there was nothing to worry about.

‘Then it literally went from complaining at the desk saying I couldn’t breathe properly to lying in resuscitation in A&E.

‘It crossed my mind that I could die. I’m someone who doesn’t really go to the doctor, I just get on with it.’

His lung had collapsed entirely due to a condition known as pneumothorax. A tube was swiftly inserted into his ribcage to push out the trapped air and built-up fluid that was slowly crushing his lungs and chest.

However, when the lung failed to heal naturally he was transferred to The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, on June 1 for surgery.

During the two-hour operation, doctors cut out a portion of his lung before stapling it back together and using a white powder to ‘glue’ the lung to Mr Gittins’ chest wall to prevent it from collapsing again.

The 31-year-old is due to become a father in September, and said the scare ‘opened my eyes’

Mr Gittins used vapes such as the one pictured above for just a month before his health scare

He has claimed that vaping was to blame for the lung collapse, which left him close to death and needing surgery

 The father-to-be, who is expecting his first child in September, says he now finds himself struggling with breathlessness after walking five minutes

Mr Gittins was discharged from hospital on June 9 with a large tube that was inserted into his right side and attached to a plastic bag

The roofer now believes vaping was the cause of his ordeal, adding the vape he was using may have been ‘counterfeit’.

‘Now I think back, knowing what happened, it did feel like I felt my lung collapse. But obviously you don’t know what a lung collapse feels like unless you’re a doctor.

‘I think the vape I was using wasn’t genuine. I think it might have been a counterfeit one.’

He continued: ‘I always say I’d rather smoke a cigarette because at least I know a cigarette kills me – you don’t know what’s in a vape.

‘I always said I wouldn’t start smoking vapes – and now I have and look what’s happened to me.’

READ MORE: Eight children from a single school have been hospitalised after vaping, MP claims amid fears pupils are becoming addicted and ‘waking up in the middle of the night desperate to have a vape’ 

It comes as it was revealed last week that five deaths have been directly linked to e-cigarettes in the UK.

The deaths, which have all happened since 2010, have been described by experts as just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, with 1,000 serious adverse reactions logged by Britain’s health watchdog. 

Mr Gittins was discharged from hospital on June 9 with a large tube that was inserted into his right side and attached to a plastic bag.

This stayed in place for two weeks to catch any remaining fluid from the lung.

The father-to-be, who is expecting his first child in September, says he now finds himself struggling with breathlessness after walking five minutes.

He said doctors informed him that he should be back to normal six to eight weeks after the operation – although there is still a two percent chance that the lung could collapse again.

The near-death-experience was ‘eye-opening’ and Mr Gittins now wants to raise awareness about the dangers of vaping.

He said: ‘The surgeons have told me that I can’t smoke again. I regret ever smoking, and I definitely regret buying vapes.

‘I think people should stop vaping, but people don’t listen unless it happens to someone close to home.

‘I’m more excited [for the birth of my child] now than I was. This has just opened my eyes – I used to be a nightmare before for being like, “oh, I’ll just do that tomorrow”.

‘And then I left home for work and didn’t come home for 15 days. Anything can happen in a day.’

Source: Read Full Article