Girl, 15, ‘hours from death’ with a LITRE of liquid trapped in her lung after vaping ‘to impress her boyfriend’
ISABELLE Troncao almost died after vaping to impress her boyfriend left her with sepsis.
“They told me that if I had come in [to the hospital] a few hours later that day I would have died,” the teen recalled.
The then 15-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada, US was first introduced to nicotine vapes by her new fella and started using them “a lot”.
“It was a social thing and to impress the guy I was with,” she said.
But just seven days later in October 2023, she started to feel ill, with what she thought was a sore throat.
“They [vapes] would make my throat burn,” the now 16-year-old said.
She went to the doctor who reportedly told her she had the flu and to rest.
But just days later she got even worse and was unable to walk, or stay awake and felt a crushing weight on her chest.
She said: “I couldn’t get up to go to the bathroom and I couldn’t stay awake.
“I was in so much pain, it was like I wanted to breathe but I couldn’t take a full breath in.
“I couldn’t get up to go to the bathroom and I couldn’t stay awake.”
It was at this point that Isabella’s mum Francesca Lombardo decided to take her to St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, Nevada.
Medics quickly realised the teen was going into septic shock, a life-threatening condition that happens when your blood pressure drops to a dangerously low level after an infection.
“It had spread all over my body, which was shutting down,” she added.
They diagnosed her with a Lemierre’s Syndrome, a certain rare type of bacterial infection in your throat.
Don’t know if she is going to make it
Doctors told her the vaping had likely contributed to the bacteria build-up in her body.
Isabella had surgery to drain a litre of liquid from her lung and stayed in hospital for a month due to blood clots in her throat, lung and left arm.
Francesca, 44, said: “It was horrible, I was with her every night in hospital.
“The worst feeling was having someone say they don’t know if she’s going to make it, that was really hard.
‘A second chance at life’
Now Isabella, who no longer dates the guy she was trying to impress, is urging people to quit vaping, to avoid the same fate.
Isabella said: “Nobody should vape, it’s a strain on your lungs and it’s making lots of people sick.
“I felt like it was a sign of God that I was meant to stay on this earth for a reason.
“It’s crazy to think I would have missed it in that small time window.
“It definitely feels like I’ve been given a second chance at life.”
Smoking vs. vaping
VAPING has been touted as an effective tool to help people quit smoking.
Though vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, the habit isn’t completely harmless and comes with its own set of risks.
The NHS only recommends it for adult smokers, to support quitting smoking.
GP and author Dr Philippa Kaye explained to The Sun that the differences between vaping and smoking – and whether one is better than the other – is “complicated”.
“In a nutshell, vaping is better than smoking, but breathing air is better than vaping at all.”
Vaping exposes users to far fewer toxins – and at lower levels – than smoking cigarettes.
Switching to vaping significantly reduces your exposure to toxins that can cause cancer, lung disease, and diseases of the heart and circulation like heart attack and stroke.
These diseases are not caused by nicotine, which is relatively harmless to health. But research has still linked vaping to a higher risk of failure and lung disease.
Health risks of cigarettes
- Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer
- Smokers are at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels
- Smoking can cause lung disease by damaging your airways and the small air sacs
- Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body
- It affects overall health too, such as your mouth, eyes, immune system and fertility
Health risks of vaping
- They can cause side effects such as throat and mouth irritation, headache, cough and feeling sick
- They could lead to tooth decay
- They could damage heart health
- They could cause lung disease
- They could slow brain development
Read more on how vaping can affect your health here.
Sources: NHS, CDC