Cumbrian dad calls for vape ban after daughter resuscitated in theatre

Mark Blight says that Australia has ‘done the right thing’ by making vapes available only to those with a prescription and hopes that the UK will follow suit.

Back in May 2024, his 17-year-old daughter Kyla was hospitalised after collapsing while out with friends.

Her dad says that the teen had ‘gone blue’ and that her friends had ‘thought she’d died’.

He said: “We rushed her down to the hospital and they said then she was very, very lucky.

“They put a drain in her then they took us to Carlisle, we were in there for a few days and then they said we’re going to have to have emergency surgery.”

Kyla had to undergo emergency surgery (Image: Mark Blight) Kyla was taken to Newcastle where she underwent a five-and-a-half-hour-long surgery to remove part of her lung.

Mr Blight said: “I didn’t know what was going on.

“I found out that she had died on the table, and they had to resuscitate her, it was horrible, absolutely horrible for me.

“You wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy.”

Although Mr Blight says that doctors believe that vaping resulted in a burst bleb, leaving a hole in his daughter’s lung, he states ‘we just can’t prove it’s the vape’.

A bleb is a small air-filled blister which is located on the surface of the lung.

In June, Mr Blight’s second daughter, Tazmin, 19, complained of having pains which echoed the symptoms experienced by Kyla.

Tazmin, left, began to experience symptoms that echoed those experienced by Kyla, right (Image: Mark Blight) After arriving at hospital Tazmin was told she had a collapsed lung, also believed to have been caused by vapes.

She was put on a clinical trial at Carlisle Hospital in the hopes of the lung repairing itself.

Although it did briefly appear successful with the lung standing up on its own, she has since experienced chest pain and has been told that her lung has once again collapsed, meaning she too must undergo surgery.

Both teens had admitted to vaping from as early as 13, which Mr Blight says he ‘didn’t know anything about’.

He said: “The thing is with vapes for a parent; you can’t smell them.

“They’re not like cigarettes, there’s no odour.

“People and parents have got to understand that they can hide them so easily.

“And until it happens to you, you’re just going to say ‘ah it’ll be alright’, but it isn’t alright.

“Kids don’t know how dangerous they are, the big companies - billionaire companies - don’t care who they are selling it to.”

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Kyla and her dad, Mark (Image: Mark Blight) Mr Blight used e-cigs to stop smoking cigarettes around 13 years ago but says the market has drastically changed.

He said: “These (vapes) that are out now, there’s strawberry and there’s cherry, they’re not aimed at people like me and people who are stopping smoking, they’re aimed at kids.

“Cigarettes are all hidden now so you can’t see them, all you see is these bright coloured things.

“These are aimed at the kids, Australia have done the right thing and banned them.

“It just annoys me because it nearly killed my little girl, it just makes me mad to think about it.

“You don’t have to go in the shops to buy them, there’s people selling them on the streets like drugs.”

READ MORE: Council cracking down on underage vaping and illegal vapes

The UK Government is aiming to bring in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in a bid to prevent future generations from being ‘hooked on nicotine’.

The Bill will also enable Trading Standards to take swifter action to enforce the law, closing loopholes by introducing fixed penalty notices for certain offences.

Mark hopes to see vapes banned after both daughters suffered holes in their lungs, believed to be from vaping (Image: Mark Blight) A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Vapes can be an effective way for adult smokers to quit, but the health advice is clear.

“Children and adult non-smokers should never vape, and it is unacceptable that vapes are being branded and advertised to appeal to children.

“The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will bring about definitive and positive change to stop future generations from becoming hooked on nicotine, and stop vapes and other consumer nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches, from being deliberately branded to target children.”

READ MORE: Cumbria health boss: Stabilising youth vape rates 'good news'

The Government is also providing £3m of funding over two years for Operation Joseph.

This a programme led by National Trading Standards, which aims to reduce the sale of illegal vapes and nicotine containing vapes to under 18s.