A teenage boy was left fighting for his life after taking just two drags on an electronic cigarette that was laced with spice.
Spencer Smith was rushed to hospital after inhaling a vape that he didn't know the contents of, and the terrifying ordeal resulted in him collapsing on the floor and convulsing before being rushed to A&E. Spencer, who was 16 years old at the time of the incident, was playing football with his friends when he was offered the vape from some older boys.
Under the impression it was a normal electronic cigarette, Spencer accepted. But minutes later, the teenager collapsed in the middle of the pitch.
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Unbeknown to Spencer, the vape was laced with spice and benzodiazepines. The teen, from Barnsley, said he can't remember much from the experience, other than feeling like he was "going to die".
He does remember that his vision went at first, and after that he remembers feeling like he had left his body. Thankfully, Spencer has since made a full recovery, Examiner Live reports.
His mum, Suzanne Smith, now wants to warn others of the dangers after the terrifying ordeal impacted the entire family. At the time of the incident Suzanne shared the story on social media, with the post receiving thousands of likes, comments and shares.
Part of Suzanne's post read: "This is Spencer last night unresponsive and convulsing on his way to A&E in an ambulance. I seriously thought we had lost him. This is not a post for sympathy, but I really think it is so important for every parent to be aware and also for all Spencer’s friends to know the risks of what a few drags on a vape can result in.
"He was offered and took a few drags off an older boy's vape, who he knew and unfortunately put his trust in. He collapsed immediately after this and remembers nothing. That few drags on a vape very nearly cost him his life.
"I see so many children vaping nowadays, please ensure that they know WHAT is in the vape and that it is genuine vape juice and not some kind of ‘home brew’. Let them read this post and see that even a few drags of this ‘home brew’ stuff can potentially cost you your life."
One year on from the incident and Spencer says he feels pretty much back to his usual self and is enjoying going out again with friends. The now-17-year-old says that he copes by not thinking about it and focussing on moving forward.
Suzanne, however, has a different viewpoint. She said: "For me it was really hard to let him go out again following the incident, I found myself stopping him from going out and if he did I was phoning and texting. I even started texting his friends when he got angry with me for texting him.
"I was having regular panic attacks and flash backs to the event, not sleeping and I quickly realised that I had a problem myself and that I needed to get help. He’s a teen and needed to go out and enjoy his life."
Thankfully, Suzanne was able to seek help with dealing with the trauma through therapy and she now wants to make sure that teens like Spencer are more aware of the dangers so that nobody else has to go through what they did.
She added: "Teens unfortunately will experiment, they will make mistakes and as parents all we can do is educate them, warn them of the dangers and then trust them to make the right decisions. That’s why raising awareness is so important to me, if by reading this it makes one other teen not vape then I’m happy."
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