In April this year, Malaysia effectively legalised the sale of electronic vaporisers, also known as vape or e-cigarettes, announcing nicotine-laced products will be taxed.
However, at least one Malaysian is advocating against vaping after his vaping habit landed him in the intensive care unit (ICU) over a collapsed lung.
Wanting to warn of the dangers of vaping, he took to TikTok to share his experience in the ICU.
26-year-old Amirul Aiman, who goes by the TikTok user @aimanpicasso, posted a video on 4 July detailing how he ended up in the ICU due to vaping.
“I never used to care about my lungs… I also didn’t care about the consequences, didn’t care to know what happened to others,” he said.
However, all that changed after his own experience.
Mr Aiman explained he used to smoke cigarettes and vape a lot.
“When I open my eyes, I smoke. After eating, I smoke. Before sleeping, I smoke.”
Source: @aimanpicasso on TikTok
“Because of this, my lungs were punctured,” he said.
“What happened to me made me choose to fight for myself, and I choose to leave behind the smoke and cigarettes that wrecked my life.”
He then showed a series of videos of him working out in various places and lifting weights.
Source: @aimanpicasso on TikTok
Mr Aiman said he is grateful for being given a second chance even though the long-term effects will still be there.
“Once I started to shake off the withdrawal symptoms, my body and breathing began to feel okay.”
Source: @aimanpicasso on TikTok
Ending off with the last caption, he said:
If I were given the chance to start over, I wouldn’t choose to smoke at all.
Mr Aiman told Malay publication mStar that he initially had shortness of breath and started to feel pain while jogging.
Thinking it was a minor ailment, he went home, took painkillers, and went to sleep.
The symptoms were bad enough for him to seek treatment at the hospital the next day.
“I started vaping as an alternative to smoking cigarettes,” Mr Aiman said. Though he had shortness of breath at times, he did not know what was going on until he abruptly felt breathless while jogging.
“My lungs felt like they were being gripped,” he shared.
He knew he had to go to the hospital when the pain didn’t cease. In the end, he was in the ICU for a week after his oxygen levels dropped.
According to the doctor, Mr Aiman’s right lung had shrunken because of his vaping habit, noting he also had a collapsed lung.
“If possible, I wouldn’t want to go in the ICU again,” he said, describing it as a scary phase in his life.
“The doctor said many people end up in hospital because of vaping. I became determined to stop vaping after my stint in the ICU.”
He also shared that he felt sorry for his wife and family, who were sad to see that he had a pipe in his chest.
In posting the TikTok video, Mr Aiman hopes to share the dangers of vaping and that other people quit as he did.
“I wanted to share my story so it could be a lesson to others,” he shared. “I didn’t think the video would go viral on TikTok.”
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Featured image adapted from TikTok.
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