ISABELLE Troncao almost died after vaping to impress her boyfriend left her with sepsis.
“They told me that if I had come in [to the hospital] a few hours later that day I would have died,” the teen recalled.
The then 15-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada, US was first introduced to by her new fella and started using them “a lot”.
“It was a social thing and to impress the guy I was with,” she said.
But just seven days later in October 2023, she started to feel ill, with what she thought was a .
“They [vapes] would make my throat burn,” the now 16-year-old said.
She went to the doctor who reportedly told her she had the flu and to rest.
But just days later she got even worse and was unable to walk, or stay awake and felt a .
She said: “I couldn't get up to go to the bathroom and I couldn't stay awake.
“I was in so much pain, it was like I wanted to breathe but I couldn't take a full breath in.
“I couldn't get up to go to the bathroom and I couldn't stay awake.”
It was at this point that Isabelle's mum Francesca Lombardo decided to take her to St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, Nevada.
Medics quickly realised the teen was going into , a life-threatening condition that happens when your blood pressure drops to a dangerously low level after an infection.
“It had spread all over my body, which was shutting down,” she added.
They diagnosed her with a , a certain rare type of bacterial infection in your throat.
Don't know if she is going to make it
Doctors told her the vaping had likely contributed to the bacteria build-up in her body.
Isabelle had surgery to drain a litre of liquid from her lung and stayed in hospital for a month due to in her throat, lung and left arm.
Francesca, 44, said: “It was horrible, I was with her every night in hospital.
“The worst feeling was having someone say they don't know if she's going to make it, that was really hard.
‘A second chance at life'
Now Isabella, who no longer dates the guy she was trying to impress, is urging people to , to avoid the same fate.
Isabella said: “Nobody should vape, it's a strain on your lungs and it's making lots of people sick.
“I felt like it was a sign of God that I was meant to stay on this earth for a reason.
“It's crazy to think I would have missed it in that small time window.
“It definitely feels like I've been given a second chance at life.”
