Bloke received so hooked on vaping that he was nonetheless puffing on the way in which into hospital

Dylan Bonney quit cigarettes for vaping thinking it would be healthier before the birth of his first daughter, but found himself so addicted, he was still puffing as he was rushed to hospital

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A bloke switched from smoking cigarettes to vaping to be ‘heathier’ – only to get so addicted that he found himself puffing on his vape as he was hospitalised with a collapsed lung.

Dylan Bonney says he switched to vaping seven years ago, believing it would be ‘cleaner and safer’ ahead of the birth of his first daughter, after smoking cigarettes for over a decade.

The 34-year-old says he vaped a ‘disgusting’ amount and would constantly carry the vape around in his pocket – even falling asleep with it in his hand.

Yet while working a shift in February this year, the chef experienced sudden and severe chest pain and feared he was having a heart attack.

Dylan, who is also a self-employed tree feller, says he tried to push through the remainder of his shift despite the pain, but ‘felt like he was breathing through a straw’.

Dylan managed to drive himself to hospital before blacking out, where he was diagnosed with a collapsed right lung. Not knowing at the time that his lung had collapsed, Dylan says he was even puffing on his vape as he was being wheeled into the hospital.

The dad-of-one had to undergo emergency surgery to reinflate his lung, and now wants to warn other people of the potential dangers of vaping.

Dylan, from Pine, Arizona, US, said: “I quit smoking cigarettes a couple days before my daughter was born in 2019.

“I switched straight over to the vape because I thought was a safer alternative – or at least a cleaner, less disgusting alternative.

“I did the vaping instead of quitting cold turkey because I thought there was a better chance of success and it worked because I never picked up a cigarette again.

“It was 100% for my daughter.”

Dylan says he was vaping a ‘disgusting’ amount – and would even fall asleep with his vape in his hand.

He said: “It was disgusting how much I was vaping, it was ungodly. It’s so accessible – it’s way less taboo than smoking because it smells fruity and yummy.

“I just had it in my pocket and I would hit it whenever, I’d fall asleep with it under my pillow or in my hand. My vape was always in my pocket or at reach.”

Dylan, who is a trained chef, was working a shift on February 26 when he collapsed with excruciating chest pain.

He said: “Out of nowhere, I dropped everything that I was holding in my hands. I grabbed my chest and I thought I was having a heart attack instantly.

“It went from 0 to 100, it crippled me down to the ground. I thought I was dying – my heart felt like it had completely stopped beating and my heart hurt.

“I had no idea that anything was going on with my lung – it was the last thing I thought.

“I thought it could be indigestion or heartburn on a major degree, so I actually got back into the kitchen and finished my shift out for another hour and a half.

“The whole time I was holding my chest and cutting vegetables in the worst pain I’ve ever been in in my life.

“I felt like I couldn’t breathe – it’s like my breathing was completely off and all I was able to breathe through was a small bendy straw.”

Despite being in unbearable pain, Dylan said he was still determined to try and pick his daughter up from school that afternoon.

Dylan said: “I was being stubborn and I needed to get to my daughter. In my mind, nothing was going to stop me from picking her up.

“I tried to leave at my time deadline and I blacked out.”

Dylan rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a collapsed right lung and rushed in for emergency surgery. He has since been told he was not far from cardiac arrest.

Dylan said: “I don’t really remember anything after, other than what they told me at the hospital – that I pulled up to the ambulance bay doors, and I was holding my vape in my hand.

“I was holding my heart in one hand grasping my chest, and holding my vape in my other hand. The doctors told me later the collapsed lung was caused by vaping.”

Dylan stayed in hospital for almost two weeks, and underwent a second surgery to reinflate his lung on March 1, before he was discharged nine days later [March 10].

Dylan, who has since quit vaping, says he regrets ever starting – and is warning other people not to.

Dylan said: “The surgeon said I wouldn’t be in the situation if I’d been smoking cigarettes for the past seven years.

“I would never do anything that would put my health at risk being a dad now, that’s why I stopped [smoking cigarettes] in the first place.

“If I had known the repercussions of that – that I would almost lose my life, or put people that care about me in that situation then I would never do that, ever.

“If I can keep anyone from hitting the vape one more time, or from switching to vaping because they think it’s a better alternative, then I will dedicate my life to it at this point.

“It’s becoming so prevalent right now, it’s like an epidemic.”

Dylan is now fundraising to raise money to cover the costs he lost out on while not being able to work.

To donate to the fundraiser, go here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/my-brother-after-emergency-life-saving-surgeries

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