Pennsylvania teen, 19, is the latest to be left in a medically-induced coma from vaping

A Pennsylvania teenager is in a medically-induced coma and his doctors say vaping is to blame.

Kevin Boclair, of Broomall, started vaping in high school. He told his parents he had quit, but then resumed again.

About two weeks ago, the 19-year-old started having a coughing fit. Within days, he was coughing so violently that he was vomiting.

His mother rushed him to an urgent care clinic, where doctors told him that he had double pneumonia and his lungs were failing, reported FOX 29.

After first being taken to two different hospitals, Boclair was transferred to the ICU at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he was placed in a medically-induced coma and hooked up to a heart-lung machine. 

His medical team told his parents that vaping is tied to his condition and that – if he survives – he may be in need of a double-lung transplant.

Kevin Boclair, 19, of Broomall, Pennsylvania, started vaping in high school, quit, and then told his parents he started again. Pictured: Boclair, left, with his mother 

Two weeks ago, Boclair (left and right) began coughing and, within days, was coughing so violently that began throwing up. His mother took him to an urgent care clinic, where Boclair was diagnosed with double pneumonia

‘They know it’s vaping,’ Boclair’s mother, Debbie, told FOX 29. ‘This [condition] is even new to the doctors .’ 

Debbie said that when her son first started vaping, he used zero nicotine vape juice. 

‘He did quit, but then he went back to it for the flavor,’ she told the station. ‘But then he started the nicotine one and he got hooked on that.’

When Boclair, who just finished his freshman year at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, first started coughing, his parents thought it was just a cold.

‘[Soon], he was coughing violently enough that he was throwing up,’ Debbie told FOX 29. 

‘In the morning, he didn’t look the right color. He was like gray. I ran him to the urgent care and they did an X-ray.’

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Boclair was diagnosed with double pneumonia, an infection that affects both of the lungs. 

The infection causes inflammation in the alveoli – the tiny, elastic air sacs in your lungs – which makes it difficult to breathe.

While e-cigarettes haven’t been found to cause pneumonia, the vapor appears to help bacteria that causes pneumonia attach to the cells that line the airways, according to a 2018 study in the European Respiratory Journal. 

‘[The doctors] told me outright, you know: “We’re treating all the things he had”,’ Debbie told WPVI.

‘He came in, he had double pneumonia. They treated that with antibiotics. They’re treating all the different things, but there’s parts they don’t even know what’s going on.’

Boclair (pictured, right) was transferred to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was placed in a medically-induced coma and hooked up to a heart-lung machine

Doctors told his parents that vaping is the cause of his condition and that he may need a double lung transplant. Pictured: Boclair, front, as a child with his parents and brother 

Boclair’s illnesses comes on the heels of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration investigating an epidemic of breathing illnesses related to vaping across the country.   

As of August 27, there have been 215 cases reported in teens and young adults in 25 states.  

Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the lungs apparently reacting to a caustic substance. 

No single vaping product or compound has been linked to all of the cases, and officials said it’s not clear if there’s a common cause.

The CDC even issued an advisory warning against using e-cigarettes and other vaping products.

Boclair’s parents say they also want to warn others to teens to stop using e-cigarette before they end up in a similar situation. 

‘I don’t know how we could get parents to stop their kids,’ Debbie told WPVI. ‘So, I’m going to tell the kids right out: “You’re smart kids. Just don’t do it”.’