Fitness fanatic who vaped 'from morning to night' has part of his lung hacked off after it collapsed
A fitness fanatic had a part of his lung hacked off which he claims was caused by vaping 'from morning until night'.
Sean Tobin from Manchester in New Hampshire, US, said that he first began vaping in 2018.
He said: "I started vaping when I was 15 and the vape never left my hand. It was very, very habitual."
The 20-year-old electrician apprentice was in pretty good shape - usually going to the gym up to seven times a week and was also training as a mixed marital arts fighter.
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However, on 20 July, Sean ended up in the hospital after complaining of a stabbing pain in his back while at work.
"When I stepped up into the van [for work on 20th July], it felt like I pulled a muscle in my back. The tension there was pretty bad." he continued.
"I went to the hospital and they did an x-ray of my lungs. The radiologist read my report and they told me I had a collapsed lung."
Sean added that he was initially surprised but became 'very upset' at himself for damaging his lungs, which were shown to be covered in black spots.
"It was really scary, because I felt like I'd done it to myself. It was years of me just not treating my lungs how they should be treated." he said.
"After they put the chest tube into my chest, it was two days later and the hole in my lung wasn't closing, so they decided to do surgery."
Sean had to undergo surgery which involved surgeons removing a small part from the top of his lung and stapling it together.
He continued: "They sandpapered my chest wall with medical-grade sandpaper.
"They had to get it gooey and sticky so it would stay together. Now my lung is glued to my chest wall so it can't collapse again.
"They put a camera in my chest cavity for the surgery, and I saw what they said were carbon deposits in the lung.
"It was a scary thing to see. As soon as I saw it, I got very upset with myself. I was very sad and thought 'f**k I did this to my own lung."
Following the operation, Sean was discharged from hospital on 27 July, however, he is now facing a month-long recovery before things can begin to return to normal for him.
"Now I have to take it really easy for a month, and I can't lift anything that weighs more than 20lb." he said.
"I train very consistently for MMA, and that's my whole life. My job is also very physically demanding so I can't work either. I've just got to sit still, and that sucks.
"I don't know the long-term effects I'm going to have from this, and whether my other lung is going to be okay.
"They said that I should make a full recovery, and even though I lost part of my lung it wasn't a large amount.
"I can't smoke or vape ever again. It's a big risk if I do."
He added that he remembered seeing a TikTok video of a man whose lung collapsed due to vaping but never thought it would happen to him because he was 'in really good shape'.
"I'm an MMA fighter, and was very scared that I wouldn't be able to train for that anymore. I'm very passionate about it and want to make a living off it one day." he said.
"I was working out and running and had better cardio than everyone in my gym. I'm in really good shape, and it still happened to me."
Kit Roberts