My son, 34, never woke up after ditching smoking for ‘safer option' of vaping because his girlfriend hated the smell
A MUM claims her son switched to vaping as a "safer option" and because his girlfriend didn't like the smell of cigarettes - only to pass away suddenly months later.
Danny Clark, 34, had been vaping for a little more than a year when he went to sleep and didn't wake up again on December 12, 2024, after suffering from slurred speech and loss of balance the night before.
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Cindi Clark, Danny's mum, says he had smoked cigarettes since he was a teenager and was "a regular pack-a-day smoker".
Danny, 34, started vaping more frequently in October 2023 in an attempt to help him quit cigarettes.
The construction worker began reaching for his vape every 10 minutes during the day and would even keep one his nightstand.
Cindi, an occupational therapist, says her son's death came as a "complete shock" and the family were faced with an agonising three-month wait to find out the cause of his death.
In March, the family received the coroner's report which concluded that Danny had passed away from a sudden cardiac arrest caused by nicotine poisoning.
The frequency of Danny's vaping, combined the high 50mg nicotine content of the vapes both contributed to his death, according to Cindi, 62.
She says Danny thought that vaping was the "safer option" and would be "p***ed off" if he knew that it would eventually lead to his death.
The mum-of-eight believes more needs to be done to regulate the sale of vapes and their nicotine content and now wants to raise awareness of the potential dangers it can cause.
According to the American Lung Association, 99 per cent of e-cigarettes contain nicotine, and some brands contain an excessive amount.
High levels of nicotine can not only create a stronger addiction to vapes, it can also make your body overdose on the drug.
Teen told he was coughing up 'pints' of blood due to a stomach ulcer caused by kebabs - 'excessive vaping' was to blame
The toxic effects of too-high nicotine doses can cause symptoms such as vomiting, heavy breathing, dizziness and tremors, which may progress to muscle weakness, seizures, respiratory failure, cardiac arrest and breathing difficulties - these require immediate medical attention.
Cindi, from West Chester, Pennsylvania, US, said: "Danny was a smoker from a teenager, throughout all of his young adulthood.
"You didn't really see Danny when he wasn't smoking - that was pretty common for him. He was a regular pack-a-day smoker.
"He tried to switch to vaping as a way of stopping smoking because his girlfriend didn't like the smell of it.
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"His death came as a total shock. I received a call from my older son that Danny had passed away. It was a total shock - it was incomprehensible.
"All we knew was that he went to bed and he didn't wake up."
Cindi says Danny's girlfriend reported that he had experienced slurred speech and loss of balance the night before he passed away.
At first the family were left questioning whether he had been drinking more frequently than they were aware of - until it was discovered how much nicotine was in his system.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 50 to 60 milligrams of nicotine is a deadly dose for an adult who weighs about 150 pounds.
Cindi said: "That was sitting on my mind that that was very strange but we had a long period of waiting.
Symptoms of nicotine poisoning
There are a number of symptoms you want to watch for if you are worried about a possible nicotine overdose.
Within the first 15 minutes to an hour of being exposed, symptoms may include:
Nausea or vomiting
Stomachache and loss of appetite
Increased heart rate and blood pressure
Headache
Mouth watering
Quick, heavy breathing
Dizziness or tremors
Confusion and anxiety
Within 30 minutes to up to four hours later, symptoms shift and include:
Diarrhea
Shallow breathing
Slower heartbeat and blood pressure
Extreme fatigue
Weakness, slow reflexes, or unable to control muscles
Pale skin
You will need to go to a hospital if your symptoms progress to include seizures, respiratory failure, cardiac arrest, breathing difficulties or even coma.
Additionally, if any of your symptoms suggest that you may be suffering from a pulmonary-related illness linked to vaping, you should contact your doctor immediately.
Source: American Lung Association
"They did the full autopsy and we had Danny's funeral.
"The medical examiner started really drilling into interviewing his girlfriend about all of his tobacco and vape use and asking her over and over again what it was that he was using - what the strength was and how often he was using it.
"I couldn't understand why they were pushing in on it because they'd said his organs looked fine. It just wasn't making sense to me.
"Finally I got that call from the medical examiner that his blood levels of nicotine were so high that it was the cause of death.
"It was only three months but it felt like we waited for forever.
"He said that the amount of nicotine was three times the level and he had suffered from nicotine poisoning.
Danny thought vaping was the healthier option. He would have been so p***ed off [if he knew it would kill him] and I felt the same way. It felt like we were cheated
Cindi ClarkDanny's mum
"The impairment that he was showing [before he died], were all signs of the nicotine being so high in the bloodstream that it started impairing his nervous system - he was slurring his speech, and he was having trouble with balance and coordination.
"Ultimately he went to bed and it caused a heart attack.
"The coroner told me that most people with vaping think of lung issues - problems breathing or popcorn lung - but Danny didn't have any of that.
"Even with smoking [cigarettes], his lungs didn't look terrible.
"His girlfriend said that he would have it on the nightstand next to him when he went to bed so if we woke up [in the night] he would vape.
"Danny thought vaping was the healthier option. He would have been so p***ed off [if he knew it would kill him] and I felt the same way. It felt like we were cheated."
'Can't keep going on like this'
Cindi believes people are not aware of the levels of nicotine content in vapes and is calling for tighter regulation on their sale.
Cindi said: "It's in such a pure form I think it's so much more addictive than even cigarettes are.
"Of course when you put anything in your body that's not natural, you know that you're taking a risk but I don't think the risks [of vaping] are spelled out as quickly as they should be.
"I also don't think that there's any kind of monitoring on all of the devices and the percentage of nicotine that they get in their system.
"There's no regulation on that at all so people are basically just getting addicted to this thing and it's toxic and they can just keep putting more and more and more in their system without any idea of what's happening as a result of it.
Smoking vs. vaping
VAPING has been touted as an effective tool to help people quit smoking.
Though vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, the habit isn't completely harmless and comes with its own set of risks.
The NHS only recommends it for adult smokers, to support quitting smoking.
GP and author Dr Philippa Kaye explained to The Sun that the differences between vaping and smoking - and whether one is better than the other - is "complicated".
"In a nutshell, vaping is better than smoking, but breathing air is better than vaping at all."
Vaping exposes users to far fewer toxins - and at lower levels - than smoking cigarettes.
Switching to vaping significantly reduces your exposure to toxins that can cause cancer, lung disease, and diseases of the heart and circulation like heart attack and stroke.
These diseases are not caused by nicotine, which is relatively harmless to health. But research has still linked vaping to a higher risk of failure and lung disease.
Health risks of cigarettes
Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer
Smokers are at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels
Smoking can cause lung disease by damaging your airways and the small air sacs
Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body
It affects overall health too, such as your mouth, eyes, immune system and fertility
Health risks of vaping
They can cause side effects such as throat and mouth irritation, headache, cough and feeling sick
They could lead to tooth decay
They could damage heart health
They could cause lung disease
They could slow brain development
Read more on how vaping can affect your health here.
Sources: NHS, CDC
"I think there needs to be more awareness around nicotine poisoning itself rather than just the lung issues vaping can cause.
"It's a false sense of security - people think they're not coughing, or they don't have pain in their chest but people don't know what's happening in other areas.
"I definitely think more needs to be done to regulate the sale of vapes.
"I can't imagine for really young people who vape what they're doing to their bodies later on because they're just putting more and more in and they don't even know.
"But something needs to be done about it. It can't keep going on like this."
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