Stop vaping NOW: Terrifying e-cigarette warning issued after man collapses at a resort and dies three days later - and why EVERY smoker must know what EVALI stands for
- Family of a Queensland man asked for an autopsy to find his cause of death at 71
- Peter Hansen found to have died from acute lung injury consistent with vaping
- He collapsed while running on holiday at Airlie beach with his wife of 32 years
- He is the second Aussie, after teen Dakota Stephenson, to get EVALI diagnosis
A grieving widow has issued a grave warning about vapes after they claimed the life of her husband, who heartbreakingly still died despite having given up cigarettes for the health of his grandchild.
An autopsy of Queensland grandfather Peter Hansen, 71, revealed an acute lung injury associated with vaping probably killed him.
His family requested the autopsy after he collapsed at an Airlie Beach holiday resort last October and died three days later.
His death came around the same time a 15-year-old Sydney girl had to be ventilated after recently taking up vaping.
A grieving widow has issued a grave warning about vapes after they claimed the life of her husband, Peter Hansen (pictured), who heartbreakingly gave up regular smoking for the health of his grandchild
Peter Hansen collapsed after going running on holiday with his wife of 32 years, Pam Ashdown (pictured, Mr Hansen and Ms Ashdown on their wedding day)
Mr Hansen's widow Pam Ashdown said people need to know vaping 'can cause death'.
'If somebody does suddenly pass away and they have been vaping, find out why they died … I don't want his death to be in vain,' she told the ABC.
The autopsy results showed Mr Hansen's death met the criteria for EVALI, or 'e-cigarette or vaping associated lung injury'.
It showed his lungs were red, airless and very heavy - about twice the normal weight.
EVALI is a new disease first identified in 2019.
The autopsy showed damage from cigarette smoking but acute lung damage consistent with vaping was piled on top of that - and was likely what killed him.
Intensive care doctor Sean McManus said he believed the autopsy was correct.
He said Mr Hansen had 'huge cystic lesions' in his lungs not normally found with emphysema.
Mr Hansen vaped for over 10 years after giving up cigarettes.
His step-daughter Kellie Butterworth encouraged him to quit cigarettes because she didn't want second-hand smoke around her newborn.
'That was his real turning point of going, 'OK, I'm going to ring the Quitline and get some help and make a change,' because he desperately wanted to hold this baby,' Ms Butterworth said.
Ms Ashdown said vaping 'seemed to be better' than regular smoking but she noted he was constantly vaping.
She said his death had left her 'very sad, very lonely'.
Ms Ashdown said she wants people to know that vaping can cause death
Mr Hansen was placed in an induced coma and his family gathered around him for three days before making the heart-breaking decision to urn off his life-support
Mr Hansen complained of shortness of breath after running while on holiday at Airlie Beach last October.
An ambulance was called and he was taken to Mackay Base Hospital, then his condition deteriorated.
He was put in an induced coma and ventilated while his family gathered around and tried to comfort him.
Sydney schoolgirl Dakota Stephenson, 15, spent three days on partial ventilation struggling to breathe after taking up vaping
Dakota pictured left. Doctors at Randwick Children's Hospital believe she was suffering from a recently discovered lung condition called EVALI
They played him videos of his grandsons and his favourite rock music from the 1970s.
A CT scan showed his lungs had 'ground glass opacities', which meant they were full of puss.
After three days the family made the heart-breaking decision to turn off his life support.
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Last October the first case of EVALI was diagnosed in a Sydney teenager Dakota Stephenson.
She went to hospital with a high temperature and back pain last September, seven months after she first started vaping with friends at school.
She was ventilated but survived.
Pictured is a scan of the teenager's lung, which was filled with fluid. Within hours of being admitted to hospital she was diagnosed with hypoxia - meaning her lungs weren't getting enough air
Nationwide changes to vaping laws came into effect on October 1 last year, criminalising the importation of e-cigarettes, pods and liquids containing nicotine from overseas without a valid prescription.
There was considerable concern vape vendors were sidestepping the ban on Chinese-made disposable devices by selling them on the black market anyway.
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