One mother has issued a warning to other parents on the dangers of vaping, after her daughter was put in an induced coma from complications.
Mary Griffin, who is from Belfast, is speaking out in support of a new campaign by the Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke charity to raise awareness of the potential dangers of vaping - especially among young people.
Her 12-year-old daughter Sarah, who has asthma, was recently admitted to ICU and put in an induced coma after she had been vaping.
Ms Griffin told Lunchtime Live she thought it would be another routine hospital visit when her daughter had difficulty breathing.
"I phoned her Daddy to come and take her to the hospital," she said.
"We thought she was going to go to the hospital; they'd check her over, put her on the nebuliser - this is what's happened before.
"I was sorting out her younger sister and older brother before I went over to the hospital.
"Then I got a text message from Sarah saying... her oxygen was low.
"Within minutes her Daddy was on the phone saying, 'We need to hurry up she's in [resuscitation].
"After that I got a message from Sarah saying, 'I don't want to die without you'.
"So, of course blind panic and I'm running in the car and I can't go fast enough to get there."
'I felt so helpless'
Ms Griffin said the doctor's told her one of Sarah's lungs was not working and the other had been working twice as hard to compensate.
"She just looked so lost in the bed, I felt so helpless," she said.
"Me and her Daddy took it in turns to stay; one stayed during the day and the other one stayed at night.
"Just back and forth trying to balance life with the other children as well.
"All along they're asking me, 'Is Sarah going to be OK? When's she going to be home?'
"I'm telling them she's going to be fine, and in my heart I just didn't feel I was telling them the truth."
'It was just horrific'
Sarah was put in an induced coma for four days.
"The doctors then came around and explained it was her asthma and an infection, but because of the vaping - it played a big factor - and she wasn't strong enough to fight either the infection or her asthma attack," Ms Griffin said.
"She was like that for four days... it was just horrific.
"We didn't know whether she was going to survive or if she did what way she was going to be with having such low [levels].
"You wouldn't wish it on anybody."
'High-risk for the rest of her life'
Ms Griffin said her daughter's life will never be the same.
"She spent six days on the Children's Respiratory Ward... she was put on steroids, new inhalers," she said
"She now remains a high-risk patient for the rest of her life.
"It's not just the case that she's got home and she's OK, this is something that has changed her life forever now.
"She's 12 years of age and her lungs will never work properly the way they should."
Mary and Sarah. Image: SuppliedMs Griffin has appealed to other parents to not be naive.
"Open your eyes; don't be thinking, 'My child wouldn't do that'", she said.
"The reality is they've probably either tried it or are using them, they're that common now.
"Just think of Sarah and just think it can happen to them.
"Everybody thinks, 'It will never happen to me', and obviously Sarah thought the same thing.
"Just don't do it, it's not worth it," she added.
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