Man hospitalized after collapsed lung issues warning about vaping risks
24-year-old says years of vaping led to terrifying health scare and urges young people to quit before it’s too late
A young man who vaped for nearly a decade ended up in the hospital after his lung collapsed, leaving him determined to warn others about the dangers.
Raymond Dehn, 24, from Buffalo, New York, began vaping at just 15 years old when local stores failed to check his ID. What started with nicotine quickly expanded into regular use of cannabis THC pens, a pattern he carried into adulthood.
For years, he believed vaping was a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes. But on September 13, that assumption came crashing down.
“I remember taking a hit on my vape and my THC pen in the car and coughing, which isn’t abnormal,” Dehn recalled. “But then this searing pain hit both my shoulder blades and would just not go away.”
Collapse in the middle of the mall
Trying to push through the pain, Dehn walked toward a shopping mall with friends. Within minutes, the pain became unbearable.
“I was holding in screams,” he said. “About a minute later, while walking in the mall, I passed out.”
Paramedics rushed him to the hospital, where an X-ray revealed his lung had collapsed. Doctors inserted a tube to reinflate it, forcing him to remain hospitalized for four nights.
Doctors seeing a worrying trend
Dehn said the doctor who treated him couldn’t pinpoint an exact cause for the lung collapse, but noted that she had recently treated several young patients with the same condition.
“The only common denominator between all of us was that we vaped,” Dehn explained.
Since leaving the hospital, Dehn has quit vaping altogether. But the experience continues to weigh heavily on him.
“Every few minutes I get this overwhelming fear it’ll happen again,” he admitted. “It’s why I want to advocate so strongly for other young people to be aware.”
While vaping is often promoted as less harmful than cigarettes, experts caution that long-term effects are still being uncovered. Incidents like Dehn’s raise questions about the safety of frequent vaping, especially among young users who start before their bodies are fully developed.
