Vaping addict left ‘30 minutes from suffocating to death’ after months of feeling he had a ‘wet blanket engulfing him’

A YOUNG man claims vaping left him 30 minutes from suffocating to death after months of near-constant puffing.

Xavier Roper had been heavily vaping for “between six to nine months” before his habit landed him in the intensive care unit (ICU).

NSW Health campaignXavier claims his vaping habit lets him minutes from death[/caption]

NSW GovernmentThe Australian health campaign reveals the terrifying health risks of vaping (pictured: incubation)[/caption]

“I could gradually feel myself getting worse – it was like a wet blanket over my lungs,” the man from Sydney, Australia, said.

Two years ago, Xavier woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air.

Terrified, the young man was rushed to hospital, where doctors discovered his oxygen levels were dangerously low – around 40 per cent.

For the body to function properly, oxygen levels need to be around the 95 per cent mark.

A lack of oxygen – known as hypoxia – can lead to brain and heart damage and eventually death.

He narrowly escaped intubation, which is when a tube attached to a breathing machine is funnelled through the person’s mouse or nose and to the windpipe.

Instead, he was kept in the ICU until his oxygen levels returned to normal.

“I realised that I could have died,” he said.

“Maybe 20 minutes, 30 minutes later, if I didn’t get to the hospital on time, I could have suffocated,” he added.

Xavier is now sharing his “terrifying” story with an Australian health campaign in New South Wales (NSW), which hopes to crack down on the addictive practice.

He said: “It’s a pretty slippery slope, going from having a puff or two of your friends’ vape at a party to buying your vape to having it constantly in your hand.”

Since his stint in the IUC, the Aussie has not touched a vape.

Data from a New South Wales health survey shows rates of vaping among young people in the state are on the rise.

Between 16-24 year-olds quadrupled from 4.5 per cent in 2019-2020 to 16.5 per cent in 2021-22, the figures suggest.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park warned of the health risks associated with vaping in young people.,

“We know regular nicotine consumption can cause changes to a young person’s brain development, learning and memory and may worsen stress, depression and anxiety,” he said.

Vaping ban

Vaping rates among young people are also surging in the UK, which has led to the Government announcing a ban on disposable vapes in England.

Curbs on flavours aimed at kids and where they can be displayed will also come in.

The number of youngsters vaping in the UK tripled in three years, with nine per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds using them.

The changes are part of a government response to a consultation on smoking and vaping last October.

Vaping involves inhaling nicotine in a vapour rather than smoke, removing the two most harmful elements of smoking, burning tobacco and producing tar or carbon monoxide, which makes it a good tool for weaning smokers off cigarettes.

Its long-term health effects remain uncertain.

However, we are beginning to see the shocking health impact of vaping on younger people, with kids as young as nine showing up in hospital with devastating lung damage.

The latest figures from NHS England reveal that in the past year, there were 15 cases of under-nines being hospitalised with injuries ranging from bleeding lungs to lung collapse.