যে কর্মী ‘প্রতি 10 সেকেন্ডে’ ভ্যাপ করে বিপর্যয়কর আঘাত পেয়েছেন… ‘আমি কখনই ভাবিনি আমার সাথে এমন হবে’
A Texas worker who vaped “every 10 seconds” says a near-fatal health scare was the wake-up call he needed to quit for good. Hudson Williams initially switched from smoking cigarettes to vaping in 2019 for about a year because it “tasted better.” But after six years of being addicted to disposable e-cigarettes, the 23-year-old was hospitalized in August after mistaking chest pains for heartburn. “Within about 15 minutes, it felt like someone shot me in the chest with a shotgun,” he said.
Williams was rushed to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a partially collapsed lung, which occurs when air enters the space between the lung and chest wall, putting pressure on the lung. The thousands of potentially carcinogenic chemicals in vaporizers had eaten away at the lung tissue, causing small air-filled sacs called blebs to burst, leading to the lung collapse. If left untreated, the condition can cause shortness of breath and infection in the chest cavity.
Williams admitted that he had seen posts online warning him of the potential dangers of vaping, including permanent lung damage, high blood pressure, and lung cancer, though he “didn’t think it would happen to him.”
Hudson Williams (pictured here), 23, suffered a partial lung collapse after becoming so addicted to vaping that he did it “every 10 seconds.”
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His warning comes as nearly 6% of US adults, or about 17 million, report regularly vaping. The highest rates are found among young adults aged 18 to 24, with over 15 percent in that group reporting regular use. Among children, about 1.6 million middle and high school students continue to vape, although use has declined from its peak in 2019.
“I got very lucky, because some people have full collapses, even both lungs,” Williams said. “Doctors said there was a 100% chance that it was from the vaping, and they told me it could happen again, even if I don’t vape.”
“It was scary. I definitely regret vaping.”
Vaping has long been considered a safer alternative to smoking, which is proven to cause nine out of ten cases of the deadliest form of American disease: lung cancer. However, a growing body of research suggests that the habit may be linked to other long-term damage, including lung collapse.
The image above shows Williams’ X-ray scan of his partially collapsed left lung, which doctors said was 100% caused by vaping.
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Earlier this year, doctors wrote in a medical journal about a New Jersey man’s death from aggressive lung cancer, believed to have been directly caused by e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes typically work by heating a liquid that contains a mixture of nicotine, flavorings, and toxic chemicals to create an aerosol. When inhaled, this vapor can carry harmful substances deep into the lungs, including formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and other volatile organic compounds known to be carcinogenic. These substances can damage lung tissue, and over time, this damage can lead to DNA mutations and inflammation that increase the risk of cancer.
Williams had trouble breathing because the pain was “spreading around my rotator cuff, collarbone, heart, middle of the chest, neck, ear lobe, lower lung, and around my back.” At the hospital, doctors told him his lung had collapsed 10 percent, which is considered a small collapse.
Williams is pictured here in the hospital. He recovered with painkillers and oxygen therapy, though doctors warned that his lung could collapse again due to permanent damage.
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Painkillers and supplemental oxygen, along with an overnight hospital stay, helped him make a full recovery, though doctors cautioned that his lung could collapse again even if he quit vaping due to already existing long-term damage.
Williams said: ‘I stopped vaping the second that happened. It was 100% the wake-up call that I definitely needed to quit.’
‘I would tell anyone to not vape, it’s not good. It’s hard to quit and it’s a lot easier said than done.
‘It’s a bad habit and it’s hard to break, but it’s definitely possible.’
প্রকাশিত: 2025-10-21 22:26:00
উৎস: www.dailymail.co.uk
