Never try vaping, says schoolgirl rushed to hospital with collapsed lung

Sarah Griffin, 12, spent four days in an induced coma after vaping heavily
Daniel Keane12 October 2023

A schoolgirl who suffered a collapsed lung and spent four days in an induced coma has urged children never to start vaping, as ministers pledged to restrict the marketing of e-cigarettes to under-18s.

Sarah Griffin, 12, had asthma and was vaping heavily when she was rushed to hospital with breathing problems last month.

Her mother Mary told the BBC that she had become addicted to disposable vapes aged nine after purchasing them over the counter. By the summer, she was getting through a 4,000-puff vape – six times the normal amount - in just a few days.

An X-ray of Sarah's lungs showed that only one was working properly and she was put in an induced coma. It took four days for her condition to stabilise, and she has been left with permanent damage to her lungs.

Sarah, from Belfast, told the BBC that she hoped her experience would deter other children from vaping.

“Don't start doing it, because once you start doing it, you don't stop doing it.

“You only stop when you basically have to, when it's a life or death situation.”

Sarah with her mum Mary
Supplied

Doctors said that Sarah’s asthma and the fact she was not good at using her preventative inhaler had left her at risk of health complications.

Her plea came as Health Secretary Steve Barclay said that the marketing of vapes to children was “like a sweet shop” ahead of a crackdown by the Government on the sale of e-cigarettes.

It is illegal to sell vapes to people aged under 18, but health experts have warned that children are being targeted by e-cigarette companies using colourful packaging and fruity flavours. Data published in May showed a 50 per cent rise in the last year in the proportion of children trying vaping.

Ministers on Thursday launched an eight-week consultation seeking views on how vapes can be used by smokers wanting to quit but at the same time lessen their appeal to under-18s. Proposals are understood to include introducing plainer packaging and regulating whether vapes should be on display in shops.

Ministers have warned that children are being targeted with colourful vape packaging
PA Wire

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Barclay said: “As a father of young children I'm alarmed as a dad at the fact that the number of children vaping has gone up three-fold in the last three years... It's important we get the policy right because actually vaping does have a role to play, particularly for adults that smoke.

“Vaping is better than smoking, but for people that don't smoke they shouldn't be vaping. And it's particularly the marketing... the marketing with bubblegum, the marketing of vapes like it's a sweet shop.

“That sort of thing has to stop. That's why we're cracking down on it.”

Mr Barclay said he has never smoked or vaped.

More than a quarter (26 per cent) of children who vape say that they buy their e-cigarettes from a corner shop, according to a recent study by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

Earlier this year, a raid on a “candy store” in Oxford Street netted 6,575 disposable vapes that contained excessive levels of nicotine.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive at Asthma + Lung UK, said: “It is clear we must urgently act to stop children accessing vapes. Disposable vapes at their current pocket-money prices, with cartoons and bubblegum flavour options, are far too attractive and easy for children to access.”

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