I was nine when I started vaping. By 12, I was taking 4,000 puffs every week… then I fell into a coma: As ONE MILLION children admit to using e-cigs, exactly what this ‘harmless habit’ is doing to their lungs

Kyla Blight was only 15 when she first picked up a vape.

Within a few years, the teenager was reaching for one the moment she woke up – and getting through an entire 4,000-puff device every week (equivalent to 400 cigarettes a week, or 57 a day), purchasing them from older friends as she was too young to buy them in shops.

‘All my friends were doing it,’ she said later. ‘I just thought it would be harmless and that I would be fine.’

But in May 2024 the teenager, from Egremont in Cumbria, collapsed and turned ‘blue’ while at a sleepover at a friend’s house. 

Her father, Mark, 61, a full-time carer and father of nine, was called and rushed her to hospital. An emergency scan revealed a pulmonary bleb – a small air-filled blister – had formed in her lung.

Vaping can cause blebs to form on the lungs, through a combination of chemical tissue damage and internal pressure changes. These blebs can burst and lead to a life-threatening collapsed lung, as in Kyla’s case. 

The teenager underwent a five-and-a-half hour surgery to remove the part of her lung that had collapsed, and was at serious risk of suffering a cardiac arrest. She had to stay in hospital for two weeks.

‘It was terrifying and horrible to watch,’ her father said afterwards. 

‘I cried like a baby. It really did threaten her life. They said she went blue and thought she’d gone.’

Kyla no longer vapes: ‘I wouldn’t go near them.’ 

But her story is not an isolated one.

Sarah Griffin, a 12-year-old from Belfast, suffered a lung collapse and spent four days in an induced coma as a result of her vaping.

The youngster, who has asthma, reportedly began vaping at only nine years old, hiding devices under her bedroom carpet so her parents wouldn’t notice.

By the summer of 2023, she had developed a heavy nicotine addiction, getting through a 4,000-puff vape every couple of days. She was left with permanent lung damage.

Experts are increasingly raising the alarm over the use of vapes in children, with a recent review, published by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, linking vaping in children with problems such as wheezing and coughing, poor dental health, poor sleep, mental health problems and eye symptoms.

In fact, vaping may make young people twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts, the review authors wrote in a commentary published in Nature earlier this month.

They added they were ‘surprised by the extent to which vaping in young people is associated with poorer mental health’.

‘Vaping should not be seen as a harmless part of growing up,’ said Professor Will Carroll, a consultant paediatrician at Staffordshire Children’s Hospital at Royal Stoke, who co-authored the review.

‘The evidence shows clear links with respiratory symptoms, nicotine dependence and subsequent cigarette smoking, while concerns about wider impacts on young people’s health continue to grow.

‘We must act to make vaping less attractive and accessible to children. This should include limiting flavours, bringing packaging into line with tobacco products and restricting how vaping products are displayed.

Vapes heat a liquid containing nicotine, flavourings and other additives, producing an aerosol which is inhaled through the mouthpiece.

They were originally developed as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes for adult smokers trying to quit.

Today, the market for them is disturbingly different. Thanks to brightly coloured packaging and sweet flavours such as bubblegum and candy floss, vapes hold huge appeal to children.

According to the NHS, a quarter of 11- to 15-year-olds have tried vaping and nearly one in ten do it frequently. Overall, one million British children have tried vaping, according to the Department of Health.

The problem has become so significant that last year Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool established the NHS’s first clinic to help nicotine-dependent children aged 11 to 15 quit vaping.

The clinic offers nicotine replacement therapy such as patches or gum, alongside support to help children manage with peer pressure, behavioural habits and cravings.

Worryingly, children as young as 11 are on the waiting list for this service, according to a Freedom of Information request last November.

One of the main dangers is the potential effect on developing lungs, explains Dr Aimee Brame, a consultant physician and respiratory specialist at HCA London Bridge Hospital.

‘While vaping is generally thought to be less harmful than smoking, it doesn’t mean it’s harmless, especially for young people whose lungs are still growing and developing.

‘When someone vapes, they’re inhaling a mixture of chemicals deep into their airways, which can cause irritation and inflammation.

‘We often see this show up as symptoms such as coughing, wheezing or feeling short of breath.

‘Many young people also vape very regularly throughout the day, meaning their lungs are exposed to these substances far more often than they might realise.’

There are potentially long-term issues, too.

As Nicholas Hopkinson, a professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London and medical director of Action on Smoking and Health, points out: ‘Children’s lungs need clean air to develop properly and reach their maximum potential. Lung function continues to develop into the early 20s, so if lung function is compromised before, then there could be consequences for long-term health such as ongoing respiratory issues and asthma.’

Another major concern is the risk of nicotine addiction.

Some devices can deliver substantial amounts of nicotine, and because vaping can be done repeatedly throughout the day, children may take many puffs without realising how much nicotine they are consuming.

What’s more vapes typically contain nicotine salts, which combine nicotine with an acid to reduce the harsh ‘throat burn’ and to give a smoother, sweeter taste – and this, according to studies, makes them more appealing among ‘never smokers’.

‘When people start vaping, they experience a buzz from the nicotine,’ says Professor Hopkinson.

‘The body then adapts to it, and withdrawal symptoms can develop, making people feel restless and anxious and making it difficult for them to concentrate.’

Nicotine may also harm the developing cardiovascular system.

‘Nicotine increases blood pressure, elevates heart rate and constricts blood vessels, which in turn can contribute to significantly raising these young people’s chances of developing heart conditions, such as heart disease or stroke,’ says Dr Roy Jogiya, a consultant cardiologist and chief medical adviser at the charity Heart Research UK.

‘It’s something we’re increasingly aware of in younger patients. In clinical practice, I see young people presenting with racing heartbeats, dizziness and sometimes chest discomfort, where vaping may be a contributing factor.’

Last year at the European Society of Cardiology conference, Professor Maja-Lisa Lochen, a cardiologist in Norway, said she was concerned that ‘vaping may be causing irreversible harm to children’s brains and hearts’, as it causes heart rate rises and blood vessels to constrict, stiffening arteries in the heart over time.

She added that when children quit vaping, some experience nicotine withdrawal that can increase heart rate and blood pressure.

‘We also know that when children and young people start vaping, they may become dependent on the nicotine and it can become a gateway to smoking. I’m very worried – and convinced – that children and adolescents that are starting to vape now are at increased risk of irreversible harm to their health.’

Separately there are concerns about the chemicals used to add sweet flavour to vapes. These flavourings may be safe to eat but are not necessarily safe to inhale, particularly once they have been heated as this can alter the chemical composition of ingredients.

Simon Capewell, a professor of public health at the University of Liverpool, told the Daily Mail: ‘Once heated, these substances break down into many chemicals, such as acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, which are toxic. Some may even, research suggests, cause cancer.

‘Every new flavour is created by a cocktail of chemicals, each of which breaks down into potentially more harmful substances, about which little is known.’

The popularity of vapes among children has also raised concerns about the circulation of illegal products.

Tests in 2023 on vapes confiscated from youngsters at a college in Worcestershire found dangerous levels of lead, nickel and chromium – particularly concerning for developing brains and bodies.

And research published by the University of Bath that year found that up to one in four vapes confiscated in secondary schools contained spice, a synthetic drug that can cause seizures, breathing difficulties, a racing heart, chest pain and severe mental health problems.

More recently, in January 2024, five teenagers at schools and colleges in Lancaster and Morecambe needed hospital treatment after using vapes believed to have been contaminated with dangerous Class B drugs. And then in May this year, it was revealed that 13-year-old twins, Scarlett and Olivia Bywood, nearly died after being given a vape allegedly laced with MDMA and spice.

The sisters, from Hull, reportedly met a group of girls they knew at a local park, where they were handed what they believed was an ordinary vape. Within ten minutes, both had lost consciousness.

Their mother, Kay, said: ‘If they hadn’t been found at the park, they would be dead. They didn’t know anything about these vapes; they were just given them and gave it a go.’

The Government is now attempting to tackle the problem of under-age vaping.

In July it launched a 12-week consultation proposing stricter rules to make vapes and nicotine products less appealing to children.

Packs would need to be plain, similar to cigarette packaging, with limits on branding and only simple flavour descriptions such as apple or cola. Other restrictions would move vapes out of sight in shops.

Professor Hopkinson says: ‘The key issue is that the vaping industry has been allowed to market cheap addictive products at young people with minimum legislation until now.’

The latest proposals follow the passing of the Tobacco and Vapes Act, which makes it illegal for shops to sell tobacco to anyone born after January 1, 2009.

From the end of this month, the under-18 restriction will extend to all vaping products too.

For Professor Hopkinson, it is clear what needs to be done to stop children vaping: ‘We know what worked to bring down smoking rates in this age group.

‘Vaping needs the same approach, taking steps to reduce the affordability, accessibility and appeal of vapes to keep them out of the hands of children.’