A man has issued a warning on the dangers of vaping after ending up in hospital and coughing up three pints of blood.
Dustin Fitzgerald, 45, from Indiana, US, had been a long time smoker, smoking almost 60 cigarettes every day.
And in a bid to finally kick the unhealthy habit, Dustin made the switch to vaping.
But Dustin found himself addicted to the vapes, puffing for 10 months continuously for almost 12 hours a day.
Soon after, Dustin started coughing violently - sometimes so bad he would wake up out of his sleep to cough every five minutes.
Dustin ended up in hospital after coughing up three pints of blood into plastic bags - which nearly resulted in a blood transfusion.
He started coughing before getting to the hospital and continued when he arrived - and was coughing up blood for about eight hours in total.
He was soon diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia caused by moisture trapped in his lungs by vaping frequently.
Now he's warned others of the dangers of vaping, and is urging those who use them to put them down immediately.
He said: "I started vaping to quit smoking when they raised cigarette prices.
"I thought it would solve problems financially and health-wise - but I started to abuse it.
"Because you can vape inside I would vape constantly for 10 to 12 hours a day while at work."
Dustin said once he started coughing, he wasn't able to stop and the coughing severely disrupted his sleep.
he said: "But once I started coughing, I just couldn't stop - not even while I was trying to sleep.
"When I noticed I was coughing blood, I was freaked out - but I still didn't make the connection it was from vaping.
"I ended up on oxygen in the ER, and breathing felt like someone had put ten elephants on my chest - and that was when they told me what caused it.
"If you ever decide to vape, do it wisely - and if you start coughing a lot, put it right down and walk away.
"It's just not worth it."
Dustin said before he started vaping, he tried to kick his habit of smoking cigarettes.
Dustin, who is also a recovering meth addict, said he found the nicotine habit "harder to quit than meth".
So in January 2022, he finally cut his cigarette smoking and picked up some vape pens.
But soon he became addicted and bought XL 3000-puff vape pens containing 8ml of fluid, and would finish the whole thing in less than a week.
But after several months, he started to develop a strong cough - but didn't know why.
Finally, in October 2022, he visited a doctor about it but was unfortunately wrongly diagnosed with bronchitis.
But later the same day, he noticed he was coughing up blood - so he and wife Amy Fitzgerald, 43, rushed to the ER.
Dustin said: "I was coughing up a lot, and it was straight blood.
"When I got there, the doctors said I had lost three whole pints - they even worried I would need a blood transfusion."
Once in hospital, he was quarantined in the intensive care unit as doctors feared it could be down to hepatitis or tuberculosis.
Later he was diagnosed in the end with bacterial pneumonia after doctors said the vapes had caused a build-up of moisture in his lungs.
After three nights, he returned home and hasn't touched a vape pen since October 2022.
Now Dustin has made it his mission to raise awareness of the dangers of vaping.
He said: "If you decide to vape, use it wisely, don't abuse it like I did.
"If you don't smoke, it's pointless starting to vape - so just don't do it.
"And if you vape and you ever start having problems or you start coughing, stop.
"Put it down immediately and walk away from it, because it's not worth the risk.
"I can't go back in time but if I can stop others from going through what I did, that's all I care about."
