A dad who was left in a coma for two weeks after continuously puffing on a vape during his nightclub shifts says “vaping is not worth your life”.
James Johnson, 21, was rushed to intensive care when he started vomiting up blood suddenly. The dad-of-one spent two weeks in a coma battling bilateral pneumonia – caused by chemicals from his vapes entering his lungs.
He says he would constantly smoke on the £12 IVG 2400 vape during long night shifts as a bouncer as ‘something to do’ and one vape would only last two days. James spent a further three months in hospital with a collapsed lung and is now back on the mend but has been told he’d die before 40 if he continues vaping.
He hopes to raise awareness for the dangers of vaping after Hollyoaks star Paul Danan passed away at aged 46 – months after opening up about his respiratory failure battle due to his ‘obsessive’ vape usage.
James, a youth support worker, from Blackpool, said: “Having a vape is not worth your life. Read up about what you are smoking before you smoke it.
“Don’t think that because of your age, that it won’t happen to you. I was only 20 years old and I nearly lost my life.
“If I go back to vaping or smoking or I don’t look after my body, then I won’t make it past 40. To be honest, I’m glad I found out now because it could have happened in 10 or 20 years and my body wouldn’t have been fit enough to survive it.”
James started smoking vapes in 2023 as something to do during his long shifts.
He said: “I would work 17 hour days and would constantly be awake so I would vape a lot. It’s not spoken about the problems of vaping – it’s brushed off.”
James when he was in hospital in a coma
In May 2024 he suddenly started throwing up blood one evening and the next thing he remembers is waking up from a coma after his heart stopped. James didn’t initially remember who his partner, Charlotte, 24, was or that they had a daughter, Harper-Mai, one.
He had been diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and doctors discovered that when he vaped, chemicals were going into his lungs and filled them with pus.
James said: “They kept telling my partner that it was touch and go. It was very mentally straining in hospital but the first couple of weeks, I didn’t know I was there.
“I couldn’t walk for the first couple of weeks and it was even worse because I was awake and couldn’t talk, walk or eat.”
James Johnson with partner Charlotte and daughter Harper-Mai
Now James has one working lung but has been able to recover well and has been discharged by his doctors. He said: “There’s not many people who survive pneumonia but luckily I was young and I was able to pull through.
“A lot of people can live with one lung, but it’s about how I make different life choices. You don’t realise the dangers until something big happens.
“I’ve been advised to not smoke or vape or do anything that will affect my lungs. It took months to get back to how I am now.
“I’m lucky to be back and independent.”
James has been told he’d die before 40 if he continues vaping
James hopes to generate a conversation around vaping and its dangers. He said: “People don’t realise the complications.”
Now back to good health his is now taking part in a charity boxing match to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
He said: “I feel like if I do everything right and look after my body in the right way, then I should be okay.” Visit his fundraiser here.
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