A 19-year-old teenager from Nottingham, England, has been left with the lungs of an 80-year-old chain smoker after vaping for just six months in his attempt to quit smoking cigarettes.
Health impact
Ewan Fisher spent weeks in intensive care after his lungs failed the night before he was to start his GCSE exams.
At just 16-years-old, he already needed an artificial lung to survive, and he spent ten weeks in hospital as doctors tried to save his life, as reported by The Sun.
Fisher is believed to have suffered an exaggerated immune response to the chemicals that are found in e-cigarette fluid.
Although he was able to recover and was allowed to go home, he is left with the lungs of someone who has smoked all his life.
Doctors pointed out that the issue is vaping. Fisher is aspiring to be a heavyweight boxer and he wanted to stop smoking cigarettes so he could improve his fitness, he then switched to vaping as an attempt to cut off his smoking habit.
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Unfortunately, the teen is now constantly out of breath and even finds it difficult to walk up the stairs. His 65-year-old grandfather, who has smoked cigarettes for 40 years, is fitter than him.
Fisher told FEMAIL that the doctors tried to tell him that he will make a full recovery, but it has been four years, and he is still struggling. He was told that his lungs would make a full recovery within two years, but they have not functioned properly since his diagnosis.
Fisher added that he used to be really healthy, he used to run every night, and now he can't do it anymore without feeling tired. He is on steroids to help his lungs cope. His joints are also ruined, and he struggles going up the hills and walking up the stairs.
In December 2019, Fisher made headlines after pictures of him in intensive care surfaced. He was underage when he started smoking, and he said that it was easy to purchase cigarettes or e-cigarettes in his home city. He admitted he used to smoke half a pack a day.
In May 2019, Fisher found it harder and harder to breathe. When his lungs began failing, he was on life-support in intensive care in Queen's Medical Center in Nottingham, as reported by BBC.
Fisher was taken to Leicester and attached to an artificial lung or ECMO machine. He developed a condition called hypersensitivity pneumonitis; something he was breathing in was setting off his immune system with consequences.
New life
Since leaving the hospital, Fisher has finished a Level 3 BTEC in business and finance, and he is now hoping to train as an accountant. He also travels around the country to talk to school children about the dangers of smoking and vaping.
However, despite what happened to him, Fisher says that a lot of people still think vaping is a safe alternative to smoking. He also believes that the enticing sweet flavors of vapes are what make them very addictive. Fisher said that the flavors of vapes are very addictive, and that was what got him hooked to vaping.
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