A mother was left fearing her toddler would grow up without a parent after being rushed to hospital with vaping-related pneumonia.
Jodie Hudson, from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, swapped cigarettes for e-cigs two years ago in pursuit of a less harmful alternative.
The 26-year-old would vape ‘anywhere and everywhere’ — getting through a vape every day — and had no intention of quitting.
Dangers of vaping
But last month she suffered severe bouts of dizziness and breathlessness that left her struggling to move, so she rushed to A&E at Bassetlaw Hospital.
Scans revealed the council worker had vaping-related pneumonia, with further tests set to determine if the devices have triggered permanent lung damage.
Ms Hudson says she will never vape or smoke again after being left terrified that she may never see her two-year-old son Dillon grow up — and is now urging others hooked on the devices to quit.
She started smoking cigarettes aged 18 but quit when she became pregnant with her son.
After giving birth, Ms Hudson tried her partner’s vape as it ‘seemed healthier’ than traditional cigarettes and she ‘really liked it’.
‘I actually found it to be a lot more addictive than smoking cigarettes,’ she said.
‘Vaping you can choose any flavour and you don’t have that residual flavour on you like cigarettes. I just got hooked on them.’
Ms Hudson added: ‘When I was using disposable ones I went from buying them two to three times a week to every day.
‘I was just smoking it anywhere and everywhere. It was like a shisha bag, it was a lot more leisurely than a nicotine addiction even though it was very much a nicotine addiction.’
What is tonsillitis?
But in September she developed tonsillitis and found herself struggling to do daily tasks around the house without becoming out of breath.
Ms Hudson said: ‘I couldn’t eat, I struggled breathing, I kept waking myself up snoring because my breathing was that bad.
‘I really wasn’t feeling well and had a panic attack because I was so scared of how little oxygen I was getting, I just couldn’t function.
‘I was walking around the house and completely out of breath.’
She went to A&E, where she was left shaking, sweating and struggling to stand due to being left severely dizzy from the walk between her car and hospital.
Ms Hudson was swiftly admitted due to having a low oxygen level and blood pressure, along with a high heart rate.
After undergoing an electrocardiogram (ECG) and chest X-ray, medics diagnosed her with vaping-related pneumonia.
She said: ‘I wasn’t surprised but I thought this could end up being something a lot more serious if I don’t stop it now.
‘My mum said to me you really do have to quit, you might die.’
