A 12-year-old girl whose daily vaping habit left her needing to be put in a coma for four days has pleaded with fellow youngsters to never pick the habit.
Sarah Griffin, who suffers from asthma, started vaping when she was just 9-years-old setting her on path to addiction.
But in September a head cold combined with her vaping habit landed the young girl in hospital, with doctors quickly discovering how much danger she was in.
Sarah was whisked straight into intensive care after medics discovered only one of her lungs was working and she had to be placed in an induced coma for four days as her body recovered.
Speaking now, she has warned other young people about the dangers of using the devices which are increasingly being used by children.
Sarah Griffin was initially so agitated medics decided to delay bringing her out of her induced coma over fears they would have to induce her again. But after three days medical staff were finally able to take Sarah out of the coma and remove the ventilator
Sarah, from Belfast, suddenly began coughing one evening as she was getting ready for bed, but her parents dismissed it as her asthma. She tried to ease her symptoms throughout the night with her inhaler and nebuliser. But less than 24 hours later, she was left struggling to breathe before attending hospital where she was admitted straight to intensive care. Pictured, Sarah with her mother Mary
Sarah’s father rushed her to the Royal Victoria Hospital where medics discovered her oxygen levels had dropped dangerously low. She spent four and a half hours in intensive care before being put into an induced coma
‘Don’t start doing it, because once you start doing it, you don’t stop doing it,’ she told the BBC.
‘You only stop when you basically have to, when it’s a life or death situation.’
While Sarah is no longer in imminent danger the incident has left her with permanent damage to her lungs.
Her mother, Mary, from Belfast, urged other parents to be aware of how dangerous vaping could be.
‘She’s doing lung exercises and stuff you know, you’d expect an 80-year-old to be doing, not someone who is 12,’ she said.
The young girl’s plea for youngsters to never start vaping comes as the Government today launched a consultation to crackdown on young people using the devices.
Measures being considered include a ban on child-friendly flavours bubblegum, or other sweet-shop style varieties.
Colourful packaging is also in the firing line, with the products facing being shunted in plain packets and hidden behind counters to deter children from buying them.
Ministers also want to ban disposables versions of the devices amid fears the throwaway vapes popular amongst children are getting a new generation hooked on nicotine.
Discussing her daughter’s terrifying ordeal, Ms Griffin said: ‘The doctors explained if Sarah had not have been vaping, she would have been in a better position to fight off the infection.
‘The doctors said if Sarah had have got to hospital any later the outcome would have been entirely different.
‘That is something I can’t even think about.’
Sarah managed to hide her vaping habit from her mother, hiding the devices in various places in her room, including cutting holes in the carpet.
In the weeks before the incident that landed her in hospital she was running through a 4000-puff vape every few days.
She described how using the device was the first thing she did when she woke up and the last thing she did at night, sleeping with it on her pillow.
Despite it being illegal to sell vapes to anyone under 18-years-old Sarah managed to purchase hers over the counter, starting at just 9-years-old.
Doctors showed Ms Griffin an X-Ray of Sarah’s lungs which showed one had been seriously injured. The other lung was working overtime triggering her asthma worse, she claimed. Pictured, Mary with Sarah
NHS Digital data, based on the smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England survey for the year 2021, showed 30 per cent of children in Yorkshire and the Humber have used a vape
The night before she ended up in hospital Sarah suddenly began coughing one evening as she was getting ready for bed, but her parents dismissed it as her asthma.
She tried to ease her symptoms throughout the night with her inhaler and nebuliser.
But less than 24 hours later, she was still struggling to breathe.
Ms Griffin told Belfast Live: ‘Her cough was no different from any other time.
‘That morning I was taking my other two children to school when Sarah rang and said, “Come back mummy, I don’t feel well, I’m afraid”.
After returning home to give Sarah her inhaler and nebuliser, she left for the shops briefly but received another call from her daughter who was breathless and ‘barely able to string a sentence together’, she said.
Sarah’s father rushed her to the Royal Victoria Hospital where medics discovered her oxygen levels had dropped dangerously low.
Doctors showed Ms Griffin an X-ray of Sarah’s lungs which showed one stopped working.
‘There were tubes, wires, and machines everywhere — it was heartbreaking to see her like that. As her mum I just felt so helpless. It was a nightmare come true,’ she said.
‘Sarah has an older brother and two younger siblings and trying to explain to them what was happening was awful.
‘They were asking if she was going to die, and I was saying, “Of course not”, but in my mind I was terrified that was a real possibility.’
Tests on e-cigarettes confiscated from youngsters found they contained dangerous levels of lead, nickel and chromium. Some were almost 10 times above safe limits. Exposure to lead can impair brain development, while the other two metals can trigger blood clotting
But after four days medical staff were finally able to take Sarah out of the coma and remove the ventilator.
Her family has shared their story as part of Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke’s (NICHS) campaign to raise awareness of their concern about young vapers.
Fidelma Carter, head of public health at NICHS, said: ‘The biggest misunderstanding about vapes is that they are harmless compared to cigarettes.
‘This is not true, and this message needs to change to prevent more young people from taking up and getting addicted to vaping because they think they are risk free.
‘The long-term health implications are unknown – just as they once were with tobacco.’
E-cigs allow people to inhale nicotine in a vapour — which is produced by heating a liquid, which typically contains propylene glycol, glycerine, flavourings, and other chemicals.
Unlike traditional cigarettes, they do not contain tobacco, nor do they produce tar or carbon — two of the most dangerous elements.
Although widely viewed as safer than smoking, the long-term effects of vaping still remain a mystery.
Doctors have expressed fear there could be a wave of lung disease, dental issues and even cancer in the coming decades in people who took up the habit at a young age.
Earlier this year leading paediatricians also already warned children were being hospitalised with vaping-induced breathing difficulties amid a ‘disturbing’ youth vaping epidemic.
NHS figures also show a rise in the number of children admitted to hospital due to vaping.
Forty children and young people were admitted to hospital in England last year due to ‘vaping-related disorders’, which could include lung damage or worsening asthma symptoms, up from 11 two years earlier, the NHS said.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last month show around 4.5million Brits vape daily or occasionally — a rise of some 500,000 in just 12 months.