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'Felt like torture’: Uni student shares horrific injury after vaping

A 23-year-old woman has issued a desperate plea to “please stop vaping” after she was left in the “most horrific pain” imaginable.

Grace Brassel woke up in agony and coughing up blood one morning in late June before an x-ray revealed that her left lung had completely collapsed.

In a video on TikTok, the American uni student shared that she was diagnosed with spontaneous pneumothorax, the sudden onset of a collapsed lung without any apparent cause.

She added that doctors placed a “massive tube” in her lungs to suck fluid out, describing the experience as the “most excruciating pain” she’s ever been in.

Ms Brassel in a hospital bed (left) and her x-ray (right)
After being admitted to hospital the first time, Ms Brassel had a tube placed in her lungs to draw out fluid. Source: TikTok

A week later, still splattering blood, Ms Brassel was again rushed back to hospital where she underwent emergency surgery to repair her lung.

“When I woke up from the surgery, I asked the nurse if this is what death is, if I was drying,” the social media influencer said, tearing up.

“It was one of the most horrific pains I’d ever experienced and it would not end.

“One of the nurses started crying because she felt so awful, because it’s known to be one of the most horrific surgeries ever.”

The American then spent the next three days in hospital with another tube in her lung.

“I felt like I was drowning,” she explained.

“I [now] know what it feels like to be tortured,”

Ms Brassel spent four and a half days in hospital the second time around where she underwent one of the
Ms Brassel spent four and a half days in hospital the second time around where she underwent one of the "most horrific surgeries ever." Source: TikTok

While there is no exact cause to spontaneous pneumothorax, Mr Brassel said it could be several factors.

“A lot of it has to do with being thin and tall, and vaping does not help,” she said.

“And I am never going to vape again ever in my life.

“I am going to respect my body.”

Ms Brassel’s video, titled ‘‘why I am never vaping again,’ has since been viewed 2.1 million times.

A woman vaping
Vaping has been named as the next big health issue by Australia's Chief Medical Officer. Source: AAP

In Australia, the nation’s Chief Medical Officer has slammed the use of e-cigarettes as the next biggest health issue after Covid.

Speaking in June, Professor Paul Kelly said he was deeply concerned about the rise of vapes, particularly among young people.

His comments came as a new report from the National Health and Medical Research Council found that all e-cigarette users are exposed to potentially dangerous chemicals and toxins.

The research also discovered that there is limited evidence that the devices are effective in helping smokers quit.

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