A dad who ended up in a coma after ‘vaping too much at work’ was told he could die before the age of 40.
At just 20 years old, James Johnson was rushed to intensive care and diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia due to chemicals from vapes getting into his lungs.
Working as a nightclub bouncer, the man would constantly toke on his £12 vape during his long night shifts simply as ‘something to do’.
After previously having one vape last only two days, James now only has one working lung.
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The Blackpool bloke started vaping around 18 months ago, despite his mates warning him not to. A dad to a seven-month-old baby girl, he just ‘fobbed it off’ as he believed ‘nothing would happen to him’.
But he couldn’t have been any more wrong as one evening he suddenly started throwing up blood.
James then can’t remember anything else but waking up from a coma after his heart stopped before spending a stint in hospital. And when he did wake up, he didn’t know who his partner was or that he had a daughter.
"It was very mentally straining in hospital but the first couple of weeks, I didn't know I was there,” he explained.
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"I couldn't walk for the first couple of weeks and it was even worse because I was awake and couldn't talk, walk or eat."
The man was then diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and doctors discovered that when he vaped, chemicals were going into his lungs and filling them up with pus.
His right lung was ‘a lot worse’ and ‘too late to save’ but luckily, his left lung is functioning.
"There's not many people who survive pneumonia but luckily I was young and I was able to pull through,” James added.
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"A lot of people can live with one lung, but it's about how I make different life choices.
"If I go back to vaping or smoking or I don't look after my body, then I won't make it past 40. To be honest, I'm glad I found out now because it could have happened in ten or 20 years and my body wouldn't have been fit enough to survive it."
Once he’s fully recovered, the dad is going to take part in a charity boxing match to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
Plus, he’s now encouraging others to educate themselves on what exactly they are vaping.
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James said: "Read up about what you are smoking before you smoke it.
"Don't think that because of your age, that it won't happen to you.
"I am only 20 years old and I nearly lost my life."
Jess Battison