A teenage vaping addict who complained of trapped gas was shocked to discover her lung had collapsed, just as her sister’s had weeks earlier, her father says.
Tazmin Blight, 19, who smoked the equivalent of 50 cigarettes a day, was taken to hospital after suffering “tightness” in her chest.
At first they thought he was simply suffering from digestive upset, but doctors told him that a small air pocket had formed in his lung and burst, causing him to collapse.
Surprisingly, the episode mirrored the problems that had affected Tamzin’s younger sister, Kyla, 17, just weeks earlier.
Her father Mark, from Egremont, Cumbria, recently appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to talk about Kyla’s experience after it was revealed by Mail Online.
Tazmin thought she had trapped gas, but doctors told her a burst pulmonary blister had caused her lung to collapse.
Tazmin (left) admitted she had continued vaping even after her sister Kyla (right) nearly died.
Sisters Tazmin (left) and Kyla (right) suffered a similar medical fate within weeks of each other, according to their father Mark (pictured with them).
Tazmin said she carried her vape everywhere and consumed the nicotine equivalent of 500 cigarettes a day.
Tazmin said she switched from disposable vapes to refillable ones, but now plans to quit.
Speaking about Tazmin, he said: “It’s been a real nightmare. The coincidence is just unbelievable.”
“It brought me back to the situation I was in a few weeks ago with Kyla. It’s horrible. I’m still in shock about it.
‘The doctors took us straight to what happened to Kyla. They told her she had a pneumothorax. That’s when little holes appear in the lung and burst.
“Kyla’s was very big and Tazmin’s is very small. We wanted to catch it early. The doctors said the e-cigarettes were definitely the cause.”
Tazmin used e-cigarettes when she was just 13 and says she continued vaping even after her sister’s terrifying near-death experience.
She discovered her lung had collapsed on June 29 while Kyla was hospitalized on May 11.
Tazmin admitted that she carried her e-cigarette with her “at all times”. Despite having seen first-hand the dangers her sister faced, Tazmin “never believed” the same would happen to her.
The administrative worker had been consuming a 10ml bottle of vaping liquid every five days, giving her up to 600 puffs a day – the equivalent of almost 50 cigarettes a day.
Tazmin’s sister Kyla (pictured) nearly died after her lung collapsed due to her vaping habit.
Kyla’s ordeal made headlines and she appeared on TV with her father Mark to talk about it.
The girls’ father, Mark (pictured with Tazmin), wants vaping banned altogether
Her father, Mark, said the respiratory team at Carlisle Hospital have included her in a clinical trial. After a CT scan revealed the inflation in her lungs had decreased, the couple hope surgery to drain it will not be necessary.
Mark said: “She may not need surgery if her lung can hold itself up. She’s just been lying in her room. She hasn’t done much for a while, she’s been off work for a couple of weeks.
‘Vaping is very scary for Tazmin now and she’s been doing really well not vaping.’
Tazmin said: “I never thought it would happen to me. I was definitely in shock. I thought it would just be trapped gas or something.”
‘You never expect it to happen to you and it just happened to Kyla, so I didn’t expect it to be a collapsed lung.
‘The pain started on Friday. I came home from work and had a lot of tightness in my chest and pain in my back and shoulders.
“I thought I would try to sleep, but when I woke up, it was still there. It was just on one side. When I got out of bed, it hurt like hell.
“I thought I should get myself checked out after what happened to Kyla. She was in a lot worse shape than me.
“I can’t wait for it to resolve so I can breathe properly and not have this chest pain anymore.”
The teenager revealed she recently switched from disposable vapes to refillable ones, replacing the liquid up to four times a day, but now plans to stop doing so.
She said: ‘I’m trying to stop now. I thought it was something that only happened once to Kyla, but now it’s happened to me too.
“I’ve now been shown the long-term effects of these disposable or refillable vapes. It can happen to someone at any time.”
Mark said: “I would like to see them banned completely. These vapes are marketed to children.”
‘You can tell they are, by the taste and smell. The other day I walked past one that tasted like cotton candy. It’s not advertised for me. It’s aimed at children.
We know what e-cigarettes do to people, but there is no proof. Until then, people will continue to buy these disposable products.
“I’m really happy with what I’m doing to bring this to light. I’ve had people stop me on the street and say, ‘My daughter stopped vaping because of you.'”
Everything you need to know about electronic cigarettes
How much nicotine is in an e-cigarette?
There are many different brands of e-cigarettes, which contain different levels of nicotine.
The legal amount of nicotine in e-liquid in the UK is 20mg/ml, which equates to between 600 and 800 puffs.
The Elf Bar 600, one of Britain’s most popular vaporizers, is advertised with nicotine strengths of 0mg, 10mg, and 20mg.
How many cigarettes are in an electronic cigarette?
The Elf Bar 600 contains the equivalent of 48 cigarettes, analysts say.
It provides 600 puffs before you have to throw it away, meaning that, in theory, every 12.5 puffs is equivalent to one cigarette.
Experts say that for many e-cigarettes, 100 puffs is equivalent to ten regular cigarettes.
Elf Bars are a brand of e-cigarettes that are often sold in bright colors and with kid-friendly names and flavors, such as Blue Raspberry Lemonade and Green Gummy Bear.
Is vaping better for your health than cigarettes?
According to the NHS, vaping products are considered better than cigarettes as users are exposed to fewer toxins and at lower levels.
The health service adds that vaping instead of smoking cigarettes reduces exposure to toxins that can cause cancer, lung disease and heart and circulation diseases such as strokes and heart attacks.
Public Health England, now defunct, published an independent expert review in 2015 that concluded e-cigarettes are about 95 percent less harmful than traditional cigarettes.
However, vaping is not risk-free, as although levels in tobacco products are much higher, e-cigarettes still contain harmful toxins, according to a study by researchers at the Medical University of Silesia in Poland.
And Dr Onkar Mudhar, a London dentist who posts videos on TikTok, said Elf bars can cause inflammation, swelling and bleeding of the gums.
He said this is because nicotine dries out the mouth and reduces saliva, causing irritation due to the buildup of bacteria and food that cannot be washed away.
In 2022, there were nearly 350 hospitalisations in England for vaping, believed to be mainly due to respiratory problems such as shortness of breath, chest pain, lung inflammation and, in severe cases, respiratory failure.