Wanting to fit in with his group of friends, Jayden Richardson, now 17, started vaping at the age of just 12. His vaping was excessive, as he’s been consuming the equivalent of 50 cigarettes a day.
His habit took its toll after he started coughing up ‘pints’ of blood on the last day of his holiday in Turkey, where he was together with his family.
Once they returned home, Jayden was immediately rushed to the hospital.
Considering the symptoms, doctors assumed he was suffering from a stomach ulcer, his mother, Elita, said.
She believed the her son developed the condition due to his eating habits, particularly the greasy food and the kebabs he had every day while on holiday. But she couldn’t be more wrong.
After undergoing endoscopy, doctors determined the blood he was coughing was a result of severe lung damage due to his habit of vaping.
Doctors advised him to never use e-cigarettes again, and Jayden was more than determined to break the bad habit. But the promise he had given to himself was only kept until his birthday in January when he reached to the vape yet again.
Sadly, this was a very “stupid” thing to do as the symptoms returned.
At the time being, Jayden is awaiting a CT scan. He hopes that the ban of disposable vapes in June 2025 would add to his efforts to never vape again.
Jayden shared his story, saying, “I was terrified. I never thought vaping could cause all this.
“It started off in Turkey. The night before I had a bit of chest pain but didn’t really think much of it whatsoever. I woke up the next morning, had a quick go on my vape and just as if I had a bit of a chesty cough.
Jayden added: “I went to cough a few times and it felt a bit phlegmy so I went to spit it out. I saw that it was blood and this put me in shock. I didn’t know what to do myself.”
He alerted his mom, who was having breakfast at the time, but once she got to him, it wasn’t really bad.
Later, he went to the pool and had a drink. All of a sudden, he started coughing blood again.
“If I could go back to that moment when I first started [vaping] I’d tell myself ‘never to touch one of them’,” the teen explained. “It’s crazy how dangerous they are and what they can actually do to the human body. You don’t realize it when you do it. It just affects you in the long run. I would never touch one.”
