After one teen’s lung collapsed — he is urging others who use e-cigarettes to be cautious of the Juul pods that allegedly almost killed him.
Hailing from Florida, Chance Ammirata used to smoke one pod every couple of days or so, the equivalent of 10 cigarettes worth of nicotine and is now urging people to do away their vapes.
His warning came a week after he was rushed to the hospital with a suspected muscle strain which turned out to be serious lung damage.
The 18-year-old said he was having a hard time sleeping due to a sharp pain in his left side but it was only when he went bowling with a friend that he was forced to go to the hospital.
“Seven surgeons came in, and it’s scary when you see seven surgeons come in. You think they’re going to tell you you have like five days to live,” Chance shared with Mail Online.
Doctors revealed to the teen that they had discovered a small hole on his left lung which had collapsed.
They then inserted a tube into the lung and inflated it while they attempted to fix the damage.
Chance continued, sharing:
“When they did the actual major surgery to reinflate my lungs, the surgeon said, ‘Whatever you’ve been smoking has been leaving these black dots on your lungs’.”
Specialists allegedly told Chance he will never be able to scuba dive again and he should stop cross country running immediately. Additionally, he was told it would be a while before he is able to get on a plane.
“I’ve never smoked cigarettes – it’s the Juul.” the teen added.
Chance has been posting his story on social media, posting pictures and videos from the hospital bed.
In a post to Twitter with a picture of his lungs, he posted the following:
“You thought Juuls were safe, so did I. The black dots on my lungs are all reminiscence of Juuling. I’ve been doing it for a year and a half and can never do it again. You really shouldn’t either. I know how hard it is to change someone’s mind who’s addicted because I was too.
“And I don’t think anyone could have said anything to make me stop. But your lungs most likely look like this too if you’ve been smoking. Don’t let it get worse. Please stop. Like really please, it’s so f***ing scary.”
The post was captioned with:
“PLEASE RETWEET THIS IS EFFECTING [sic] THE WORLD AND WE ARE THE ONES WHO CAN EFFECT CHANGE. DO NOT STOP SHARING SAVE LIVES. I WILL BE THE EXAMPLE IF IT MEANS NO ONE ELSE NEEDS TO BE!”