Khaberni - Terrifying photos of burnt black masses removed from the lung of a New Zealand teenager due to his electronic cigarette smoking highlight the serious impact of this harmful habit.
Just three years were enough for the young man to pay the price for his addiction to electronic smoking, entering a series of complex surgical procedures since he started his habit in 2014, while he is now 17 years old.
From a fleeting experience to a daily addiction
Leroy King says, according to what was published by "The Sun" in Britain, that he did not like electronic smoking when he first tried it, but just a week later, he became "addicted" to the extent he consumed four devices in one week.
The young man adds: "I used the vape all day, every day."
A night that changed his life
One night in August last year, Leroy woke up terrified due to sharp pains tearing his left side, which made him unable to breathe.
His mother, Kylie Job, says she woke up to "hundreds of missed calls," before finding him collapsed in severe pain.
The teenager was taken to the hospital, where doctors discovered he had a pneumothorax, a condition where air leaks outside the lung causing it to collapse.
Within just four months, his left lung collapsed four consecutive times.
A series of surgical procedures and a shocking solution
To stop the collapses, doctors performed a pleurodesis, but his condition did not stabilize, so he underwent another operation to remove the lining of the chest wall, then a third, most shocking operation, where a burnt black piece was removed from his lung.
The photos taken by the medical team show shriveled and darkened parts inside a tightly sealed plastic bag, a scene described by his mother as "terrifying."
Kylie says: "I could not imagine that vaping could do this; they said it helps to quit smoking, but in reality, you're drowning your lungs."
"I advise everyone to stay away from vaping"
In a symbolic step, the family plans to bury the part of Leroy's lung removed in the garden of the house as a reminder of the dangers of electronic smoking.
Having miraculously survived, Leroy decided to turn his harsh experience into a warning message, saying: "I realized that my lung was completely damaged; what they found made me wake up."
The teenager began giving lectures in local schools to warn of the danger, adding: "I do not want children to go through what I went through; the pain was indescribable, I advise everyone to stay away from vaping, I will never use it again."
