A 12-year-old girl who suffered lung damage and spent four days in an induced coma told the sources that minors should never begin vaping.
A month ago, when Sarah Griffin was rushed to the hospital with breathing problems, she had asthma and was a frequent vaper.
The government of the United Kingdom has announced plans to restrict the marketing and sale of vapes to minors.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned that the proposals, which are open for public comment for the next eight weeks, would reverse the alarming increase in adolescent vaping by making e-cigarettes less colorful and less appealing to children.
Sarah used to hide her vapes from her mother in this room, even carving holes in the carpet to conceal them. She began vaping when she was nine years old.
Mary, her mother, attempted to stop her by examining her upon her return home and seizing her phone, but nothing worked.
By the summer, Sarah was going through a 4,000-puff vape (a regulation vape contains 600 puffs) in just a few days. She slept with the vape on her pillow first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
Even though it is unlawful to sell vapes to minors, Sarah bought vapes over the counter and became addicted to the nicotine hit.
Due to her asthma and ineffective use of her preventative inhaler, Sarah was at risk for complications. According to Dr. Dara O'Donoghue, consultant respiratory pediatrician at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, said many risk factors were moving in the incorrect direction.
Sarah became ill and was taken to the hospital, where a chest X-ray revealed that only one of her lungs was functioning normally, and she was not responding to treatment.
She was placed in intensive care within a few hours, and shortly thereafter was induced into a coma in the expectation that her condition would stabilize.
"There are absolutely no words to describe when you think your child is going to die." After four days, Sarah was progressively brought to consciousness and is now recovering, but she has sustained permanent lung damage.
Sarah hopes her experience will educate her classmates about the dangers of vaping. She advises against initiating the behavior because, once initiated, it is impossible to stop.
Dr. O'Donoghue described adolescent vaping as a "healthcare emergency" that required immediate action. One in five children aged 11 to 17 have now attempted vaping, which is three times as many as in 2020. Youth vaping is on the rise in a number of countries around the globe.
The government has announced a national consultation on its plans to tighten down on youth vaping.
The proposals consist of: Restricting the flavors and descriptions of vapes so that they are not targeted at children, keeping vapes out of the sight of children in stores, regulating vape packaging so that it is not targeted at children, investigating whether increasing the price of vapes will reduce the number of young people using them and considering restricting the sale of disposable vapes, which ministers say are clearly linked to the rise in vaping among children and are extremely harmful to the environment.
