A teenager who nearly lost her life, claiming vaping ruined her lungs, has started a campaign to warn people of the dangers of e-cigarettes - all while she lay in her hospital bed.
Simah Herman, 18, shared the images of her holding up hand written signs on Instagram, as the Californian teen was on a ventilator after suffering from lung failure.
Another image shows her unconscious in bed after being placed into a medically induced coma.
Herman said her symptoms first started two years ago when she started feeling sick all the time.
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Two weeks ago though, she began to have trouble breathing. Medics put her on a ventilator and her lungs failed in 48 hours.
Her post reads: "This is all because of vaping.
"Vaping is advertised as 'a healthier alternative to smoking' which is false.
"Whether it's nicotine or weed vaping can be fatal. I was lucky. The doctors didn't think I was going to make it, but with prayers from family and friends I pulled through after almost a week on a ventilator."
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Her condition deteriorated quickly after she was admitted to hospital.
She went on: "It took less than 48 hours for me to be put in a drug induced coma and a tube put down my throat because I could no longer breathe on my own. The dangers of vaping are real and this can happen to you. Please don't let it.
"I didn't end up having pneumonia. The signs of respiratory failure from vaping make it look like pneumonia, if they didn't find that first I would have died."
Her post has been liked almost 700,000 times so far and comes after a series of vaping-linked illnesses and even fatalities.
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Just earlier this week, anther teenager from Pensylvania was put into a coma, with doctors and his family believing that vaping is to blame for his double pneumonia.
Kevin Boclair, 19, started vaping when he was at high school, quitting temporarily before resuming once more. However, around two weeks ago, he had a coughing fit, and within days, this had escalated to vomiting.
Kevin was subsequently transferred to the ICU at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was placed in a medically-induced coma. He was diagnosed with double pneumonia, whereby an infection causes inflammation in the alveoli of both lungs, and doctors have said he could need a double lung transplant.
Dr Mike Cirigliano, of the University of Pennsylvania, told FOX 29: "We have seen over 200 cases of serious lung injury, one death and people on ventilators.
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"Anything that is vaporised, whether it be smoke, cigarettes, vaping in any way, in my opinion, it is not something you want to be doing."
Kevin's family, like Simah, is urging young people to think carefully about choosing to vape.
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/simahhermanTopics: Science, US News, vaping, Health