Ex-vaper reclaims health after 4 ‘lung washes', $40k spent

He wants the young to know that vaping is not as cool or safe as it seems to be

- Judith Tan

Renovation site supervisor Muhammad Dandiar Rosli thought he would be saving $200 a month when he switched from smoking cigarettes to vaping.

Instead, this change led to him being issued a $40,000 medical bill.

Mr Dandiar was 33 years old when he started vaping in June 2020.

“I was trying to quit smoking because I was getting married, and I needed to save money for the wedding. It was during the Covid-19 period and I did not have the cash to buy cigarettes, so I started vaping because it’s a cheaper alternative,” said the now 37-year-old.

He had already been smoking for about 12 years at that point.

A month into the vaping habit, he became breathless and was coughing up thick yellow phlegm in the morning.

“I also experienced shortness of breath doing simple activities like walking briskly. It was in July 2020 that, suddenly, I could not breathe properly. I thought I was having a heart attack,” he told The Straits Times.

Mr Dandiar went to the emergency department of Changi General Hospital to seek treatment and since it was during the Covid-19 pandemic, he was hospitalised.

“Due to my shortness of breath, they suspected I might have contracted Covid-19, and I was placed in the HD (high dependency) ward for the next six days. As my breathing problems continued, the doctor wanted to use a bronchoscope to look into my lungs. I declined,” he said.

Bronchoscopy is a technique used to look at a patient’s air passages, using a flexible tube with a small camera at the end.

It was a week after he was discharged that he had another episode and according to the oximeter, his oxygen levels fell to 70 per cent. Blood oxygen levels between 95 per cent and 100 per cent are considered healthy.

“I broke out in cold sweat. I was lying down then. I had not been vaping since I was discharged from the hospital. Once again, I thought I was having a heart attack,” he said.