2023-10-18 13:48:00
Sarah Griffin, 12 years old, did not expect for a moment that her addiction to electronic cigarettes would leave her suspended between life and death, struggling with her small body to continue her life.
Sarah uses e-cigarettes extensively at a time when she suffers from asthma, which led her to be admitted to the hospital due to shortness of breath problems that she suffered from a month ago.
Mary, Sarah’s mother, told the newspaper “BBC”, She is terrified, fearing that she will lose her daughter.
The UK government announced urgent plans to limit the sale of e-cigarettes targeting children.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Data open for consultation may highlight a worrying rise in the number of young people vaping, so we are working to make e-cigarettes less attractive and undesirable for children.”
Health Minister Steve Barclay added that the government will commit to taking legislative measures following they are agreed upon. Speaking to BBC Radio, he stated that there is collective concern on the part of teachers and parents regarding electronic cigarettes targeting children.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, told the Labor conference that a Labor government would fall because of e-cigarette companies providing rainbow flavors to tempt children.
The room of 12-year-old daughter Sarah Griffin is similar to most 12-year-old girls’ rooms. The room consists of a table for girls’ products, such as makeup, perfumes, and hair tools, in addition to toys that decorate the bed.
However, this is the same place where Sarah used to hide her cigarettes from her mother, and she even went so far as to tear off ends of the carpet to hide the cigarettes from her mother.
Sarah started vaping when she was only nine years old.
Her mother, Mary, tried to stop her. She would search her when she returned home and confiscate her phone, but to no avail.
By summer, Sarah had consumed 4,000 puffs, while a regular e-cigarette contains 600 puffs.
This was the first thing she did in the morning and the last thing she did before bed, which was to sleep with the e-cigarette on her pillow.
Although it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18, Sarah was able to purchase e-cigarettes without a prescription and became addicted to nicotine.
As for Sarah’s asthma, and since she was not using her breathing apparatus correctly, her condition was critical.
In early September, she caught a cold on her head.
Dr Dara O’Donoghue, a consultant in respiratory paediatrics at Belfast’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children, said: “The risk factors were going wrong.”
Sarah became ill and was taken to the hospital, where an x-ray showed that only one of her lungs was working properly, but Sarah was not responding to treatment.
Within a few hours, she entered intensive care and following a short period, she entered an artificial coma, hoping that her condition would stabilize.
As for Mary, it was a moment of despair. “There are no words to express what is in your heart when you think that you will lose your child,” she said.
Four days later, Sarah was gradually restored to consciousness and is now recovering, but her lungs are permanently damaged.
“She does lung exercises like an 80-year-old, not like a 12-year-old,” her mother says.
Sarah hopes that her experience will be a lesson for others so that they can realize the danger of vaping.”
Dr O’Donoghue said vaping was a “health emergency” for young people and needed to be addressed quickly.
We need to be very careful because health care problems are increasing due to e-cigarettes.
Recent figures indicate that one in five children between the ages of 11 and 17 use e-cigarettes.
The number of smokers among young children is increasing.
Dr Carter, a member of the Breast, Heart and Stroke Charity in Northern Ireland, says: “17 per cent of young people who use e-cigarettes use them regularly. Young people resort to vaping because they believe it is safe and does not carry risks.”
“We want to challenge misconceptions to raise awareness regarding the health risks of vaping,” she said.
Sarah Woolnough, a member of the charity Asthma UK, said she wanted to see restrictions on the marketing of e-cigarettes so they are not targeted at children.
While Professor Chris Whitty said, “Marketing e-cigarettes to children is completely unacceptable.” He added, “E-smoking may be a useful way for smokers to quit tobacco.”
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