Fitness fanatic, 20, who vaped for ‘constantly from morning to night’ has part of his previously ‘healthy’ lung hacked off after it collapsed and disturbing images found it was riddled with black spots

• Sean Tobin first started vaping in 2018 and says vape ‘never left his hand’ since
• However, a stabbing pain in his back led to him to hospital, where he was told he had suffered from a collapsed lung – likely linked to his vaping habit 

A fitness fanatic needed some of his previously ‘healthy’ lung hacked off at the age of just 20 after horrifying photos revealed it riddled with black spots – which he blames on his ‘morning to night’ vaping habit.

Sean Tobin first started vaping in 2018, claiming that he got through one 5,000 puff disposable vape a week at the height of his habit.

The 20-year-old claims that the vape ‘never left his hand’ for five years, and that he would be using it constantly from morning until night, alongside occasionally smoking marijuana and THC oil.

However, things took a turn for the worse when Sean felt a stabbing pain in his back whilst at work in Tilton, New Hampshire, on July 20.

The electrician apprentice initially wondered if he had pneumonia but soon rushed to a nearby urgent care centre to get his vitals checked as the pain worsened throughout the day.

Fitness fanatic Sean Tobin needed some of his previously ‘healthy’ lung hacked off at the age of just 20 after horrifying photos revealed it riddled with black spots – which he blames on vaiping

Disturbing photos taken prior to the surgery using an endoscope show the surface of Sean’s lung covered in black spots, that he claims were carbon deposits caused by vaping heavily over the past five years

The vaper claims that he was terrified when doctors confirmed that the x-ray had shown that his right lung had collapsed.

READ MORE: From fit football star to dead in months: How a secret vaping addiction claimed the life of North Carolina teenager, 15, after causing deadly lung disease 

Sean was transported to Concord Hospital, Concord, New Hampshire, where doctors made an incision between his ribs and inserted a chest tube in an attempt to push out the trapped air that was crushing his lung and chest.

After the lung failed to heal naturally after two days, Sean endured gruelling surgery that involved surgeons chopping off a small portion from the top of his lung and stapling it back together.

The afflicted organ was then glued to his chest wall to prevent it from collapsing again.

Disturbing photos taken prior to the surgery using an endoscope show the surface of Sean’s lung covered in black spots, that he claims were carbon deposits caused by vaping heavily over the past five years.

The traumatised patient claims that doctors were able to confirm that vaping had likely been the cause of the collapsed lung, and says that seeing photographs of the afflicted organ was extremely ‘scary’.

Sean claims that the ailment came as a surprise as he has always been healthy – visiting the gym up to seven times a week and even training in mixed martial arts.

The fitness enthusiast believes that he ‘shouldn’t have started vaping’ as he was ‘so healthy’ before – and is now upset with himself for damaging his own lungs.

Sean, from Manchester, New Hampshire, said: ‘I started vaping when I was 15 and the vape never left my hand. It was very, very habitual.

‘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.

‘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.

‘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.

‘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 was transported to Concord Hospital, Concord, New Hampshire, where doctors made an incision between his ribs and inserted a chest tube in an attempt to push out the trapped air that was crushing his lung and chest

‘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*ck I did this to my own lung’.

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‘My cardio was so good. I was so healthy and I shouldn’t have started vaping.

‘I was just very upset with myself, and I was having a hard time. I’d permanently damaged my lungs, and I was here because I’d done this to my lungs.’

Sean was discharged from hospital on July 27, and is now facing a month-long recovery period before he can begin to enjoy normal life again.

Although Sean claims doctors said that he will likely make a full recovery, the patient admits that he is unsure of the long-term effects.

The 20-year-old claims that he used to watch videos showing fellow vapers whose lungs had collapsed and thought it would never happen to him as he was in ‘really good shape’.

Sean said: ‘Now I have to take it really easy for a month, and I can’t lift anything that weighs more than 20lb.

‘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.

‘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.

Sean was discharged from hospital on July 27, and is now facing a month-long recovery period before he can begin to enjoy normal life again

‘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.

‘I remember seeing TikTok videos of a guy with a collapsed lung from vaping, and I was like, ‘that’s not going to happen to me. This dude’s a bum, and I’m not’. And then it happened to me.

‘You never think something is going to happen to you, until it happens to you.’

Millions now vape worldwide, and a number of instances of lung collapse in young people have been reported over the past year that patients say are linked to vaping.

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