An Ohio woman was put in a medically induced coma, diagnosed with a minor brain injury, and had two liters of black and bloody liquid removed from her lungs all because of one daily habit—vaping.
According to reporting by Kennedy News and Media published in The Daily Mail, 32-year-old Jordan Brielle began vaping in 2021, eventually spending $500 per week to keep up with her addiction, which she admitted was “excessive.”
“I was fully addicted,” she admitted. “I was vaping so much that I slept with it, it went to the shower with me.”
Things took a dramatic turn in 2023, when Brielle began to feel heaviness in her chest that sent her to the hospital multiple times per week.
“At first it was just a respiratory infection or bronchitis, so I kept going to the hospital with breathing problems,” she said. “I had a horrible cough and was going to the hospital two or three times a week for help. I had little to no voice. Each time they would send me home. It felt like there were 80 pounds of pressure just laying on my chest. I’d never felt so sick in my life.”
“My body was swelling up from my ankles to my kneecaps. I kept going to the hospital because I was progressively getting worse,” Brielle added. “My skin was turning gray, I couldn’t focus, I was very discombobulated. It was hurting to walk. I could barely do anything. Nobody knew what was actually wrong with me. I felt like I was dying.”
It all came to a head in May, when Brielle’s partner found her with black mucus seeping from her nose and mouth.
“He said I was gasping but couldn’t catch my breath. I was unresponsive and had a faint pulse. He began sucking the sputum out of my nose and mouth to try and give me CPR,” she recalled. “ He called 911 because the CPR wasn’t working. I don’t remember anything. I was intubated immediately and taken to hospital.”
Once admitted, doctors found two liters of fluid in Brielle’s heavily damaged lungs. She said it was “vape juice,” the liquid the vaporizer converts to aerosol before it’s inhaled.
“My body was trying to force out the vape juice inside my lungs, which was like concrete. It was pure black and bloody,” she said. “At the hospital, they were sucking it out of me.”
Brielle was placed in an 11 day-long medically induced coma. Once she came out of it, she had to do breathing exercises before she could be discharged from the hospital.
“They really saved my life,” Brielle said of the hospital staff. “They told me if I’d waited any longer, I wouldn’t have been here. I haven’t touched a vape since.”
Now Brielle, who’s still at risk for having her lung collapse and is dealing with a “minor brain injury” due to lack of oxygen, is warning others off of vaping.
“I would say to anyone else, quit any way you can. Do it for your health, your family, your life, your lungs-— whatever motivates you, use that reason and stop,” she said. “I wouldn’t wish what I’d been through on anyone else. I feel grateful to be alive.”
The post Doctors Drain 2 Liters of ‘Black and Bloody’ Vape Juice from Woman’s Lungs appeared first on VICE.
The post Doctors Drain 2 Liters of ‘Black and Bloody’ Vape Juice from Woman’s Lungs appeared first on VICE.
