Freddie Janman, 18, a musician from Surrey, was hospitalised with an asthma attack after years of heavy vaping. He admitted he was so addicted that he secretly vaped from his hospital bed, despite being warned the habit could kill him.
Freddie, who was diagnosed with asthma at age three, said he required “consistent” hospital admissions due to dust, pet hair and exercise. When a friend introduced him to vaping at 12, he said he would “always get really bad chest infections” that often required antibiotics, but he grew addicted.
1,200 puffs a day
At its peak, Freddie inhaled around 1,200 vape puffs a day, the equivalent of 80mg of nicotine or two packets of cigarettes, from waking until sleep. By age 18, he estimates he spent at least £4,000 on vapes or refills.
On March 30 this year, Freddie felt a tight chest, as if his heart was being “squeezed”, which worsened to feeling like he was “breathing through a straw”. His girlfriend, Zoe Henrick, 18, drove him to A&E, where he was told his oxygen levels were “really low”.
Hospital admission and quitting
Freddie spent four days in hospital on oxygen. He was encouraged to say he smoked cigarettes to see a Stop Smoking nurse. He admitted: “The crazy thing was – and I didn’t tell anyone this – but I was still that addicted, that I cheekily (vaped) when no one was looking in the hospital bed.”
According to a survey by the public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), 19% of 11 to 17-year-olds in Britain have tried vaping. Nazir Hussain, Clinical Lead at Asthma + Lung UK, said: “Freddie’s experience of vaping as a young child is sadly far too common. There is a growing body of evidence linking vaping to respiratory problems in children.”
Six-year addiction
Freddie started vaping at 12 after a friend introduced it while playing video games. He felt “it just looked really innocent”. Within six months, he went from a 600-puff disposable vape a week to a 2,400-puff refillable one lasting two days. He hid it from his parents and vaped all day, every day for six years.
Doctors repeatedly told him to stop and he tried to quit three times unsuccessfully. On April 2, after speaking to a Stop Smoking nurse, he threw his vape in the bin. The nurse gave him nicotine gum and patches, and a doctor prescribed a beclometasone inhaler.
Freddie has not “touched” a vape since and said his health has improved “night and day”. He wrote a song, Sacrifice My Soul, about his experience. He said: “If I can stop someone from picking up a vape by sharing my story, then I’m happy.”
