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“I may never live to be 40 or 50 – and it’s all because of a five-year habit I did under peer pressure,” Karlee Ozkurt, 20, told the Sun. She started vaping when she was 15. Her older friends bought her first vape. She consumed a whole portion a day – it contains slightly less nicotine than a whole pack of cigarettes.
After her addiction, her right lung collapsed: “Suddenly I felt like I had just pulled a muscle in my back. About an hour later I started wheezing.” When the pain didn’t go away, she went to the emergency room.
A second lung collapse resulted in surgery
Then came the certainty: her right lung had collapsed by as much as 50 percent. This happens when the lung has a hole and the organ can no longer inflate properly. The doctors were able to help with an injection. However, their message was clear: Ozkurt must stop vaping.
But she couldn’t help it, three months later she started again. With fatal consequences: a year later her lung collapsed again – as a result of a simple cold. “They said my lung collapse was spontaneous, but vaping didn’t help at all.” She needed surgery. “The chance of it happening again increases every time it happens – so I had to have surgery this time.”
Purchasing e-cigarettes was the ‘worst decision’ of your life
Another CT scan of her lungs also revealed the scarring on the organ. According to her treating doctor, this was caused by her vaping use. The Wisconsin woman now fears the long-term consequences.
The woman stopped vaping at the end of February and has now been without nicotine for a month. “You don’t have to vape to live – it’s just a habit you have to break.” She appeals to younger people who are also starting to vape. “I have friends who are a year or two younger than me. I would say to them: don’t even start. That’s not cool, that’s just stupid.” (mgf)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
