17-Year-Old Who Received Double Lung Transplant Due To Vaping Issues Warning

Feb 05, 2020 by apost team

Vaping has become very popular in our culture, particularly among teenagers. While many consider vaping to be a safe alternative to smoking, the U.S. Surgeon General warns that it is an unhealthy practice.

Daniel Ament, a teenage boy from Michigan recently shared his own experience with vaping, and is telling the world how it placed him at death’s door.

Seventeen-year-old Daniel Ament is like most kids his age. Before he began vaping, Daniel loved sailing and spending time with his friends. Daniel even had dreams of joining the Navy SEALs after graduating from high school. Daniel’s life changed dramatically when he began vaping in December of 2018.

Daniel said that he just vaped when he was with friends on weekends or hanging out after lunch. The boy never bought an e-cigarette himself, instead of taking hits from the flavored cartridges and THC pods used by his friends.

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In September of 2019, Daniel became incredibly ill. At first, Daniel just had a headache, but his symptoms became gradually worse over time. Daniel’s mom, Tammy, had a hunch that her son’s illness was related to vaping, but Daniel had never told her that he vaped until she was driving him to the emergency room. It wasn’t until Daniel was admitted to the hospital that he told his mother and doctors of the extent of his vaping. Soon after being admitted, Daniel’s health also began to decline rapidly, as reported here in The Independent.

As his condition worsened, Daniel was placed on life support for 29 days. Doctors warned the Ament family that their teenage son was very near death. The high school boy says that he hasn’t fully come to terms with that revelation, especially because when his health was at its worst, doctors only gave Daniel a 10 percent chance of living.

Thankfully, Daniel got a double lung transplant, which saved his life. While Daniel is happy to be alive, he still can’t grasp why he had such a bad reaction to vaping. The high schooler points out that people who have vaped for years are perfectly healthy, while he was only vaping on and off for a few months and nearly died.

Daniel must now wear a mask in public for the next year and take 20 different medications each day. The surgery also means that Daniel is ineligible to fulfill his lifelong dream of joining the Navy SEALs.

Despite this radical alteration of his life, Daniel says that the double lung transplant has given him a second chance. The teenage boy has since launched a non-profit called Fight for Wellness, an organization that warns teenagers of the dangers of vaping.

What do you think of Daniel’s story? Are you concerned about health problems associated with vaping? Send this message on to let others know of the risks.