Man, 21, left fighting for his life after vaping habit left him vomiting blood and facing ‘silent killer’
A MAN was left fighting for his life in a coma for two weeks after puffing on vapes during his bouncer shifts.
James Johnson, 21, was rushed to intensive care when he suddenly started vomiting up blood.
The dad-of-one spent two weeks in a coma battling bilateral pneumonia – caused by vape chemicals entering his lungs.
He says he would constantly toke on £12 IVG 2400 vapes during long night shifts as a bouncer as “something to do” – to the point that one vape would only last two days.
After waking up from the coma, James spent a further three months in hospital with a collapsed lung.
He’s now back on the mend but claims he was told he’d die before 40 if he continued vaping.
He hopes to raise awareness around its the dangers following the passing of Hollyoaks star Paul Danan at just 46 – just six months after revealing he’d suffered respiratory failure due to his “obsessive” vape usage.
James, a youth support worker, from Blackpool, Lancashire, said: “Having a vape is not worth your life.
“Read up about what you are smoking before you smoke it.
“Don’t think that because of your age, that it won’t happen to you.
“I was only 20 years old and I nearly lost my life.
“If I go back to vaping or smoking or I don’t look after my body, then I won’t make it past 40.
“To be honest, I’m glad I found out now because it could have happened in 10 or 20 years and my body wouldn’t have been fit enough to survive it.”
James started using vapes in 2023 as something to do during his long shifts.
He said: “I would work 17-hour days and would constantly be awake so I would vape a lot.
“It’s not spoken about the problems of vaping – it’s brushed off.”
One evening in May 2024, he suddenly started throwing up blood and the next thing he remembers is waking up from a coma, after his heart stopped.
James didn’t initially remember who his partner, Charlotte, 24, was or that they had a daughter, Harper-Mai, one.
He was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia – meaning both lungs were affected – and doctors discovered that chemicals were leaching into his lungs every time he vaped, causing them to fill with pus.
James said: “They kept telling my partner that it was touch and go.
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
“It was very mentally straining in hospital but the first couple of weeks, I didn’t know I was there.
“I couldn’t walk for the first couple of weeks and it was even worse because I was awake and couldn’t talk, walk or eat.”
‘Lucky to be back’
Now James has one working lung – but was able to make a good recover and be discharged from hospital.
He said: “There’s not many people who survive pneumonia but luckily I was young and I was able to pull through.
“A lot of people can live with one lung, but it’s about how I make different life choices.
“You don’t realise the dangers until something big happens.
“I’ve been advised to not smoke or vape or do anything that will affect my lungs.
“It took months to get back to how I am now.
“I’m lucky to be back and independent.”
James hopes to generate a conversation around vaping and its dangers.
He said: “People don’t realise the complications.”
Now back on his feet, he’s taking part in a charity boxing match to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
He said: “I feel like if I do everything right and look after my body in the right way, then I should be okay.”
Visit his fundraiser here.