A 12-year-old girl in Northern Ireland was left in an induced coma for three days after vaping made her lungs so weak that she was unable to fight off an infection.

Her family shared their harrowing recent experience as part of a Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke campaign to prevent young people from vaping, which was launched this week.

Sarah Griffin, who is asthmatic, began coughing one evening, but her parents first dismissed it as being caused by a change in weather, which in turn triggered her asthma.

But the next morning, Sarah was “completely out of breath”, said her mother, Ms Mary Griffin, according to an article on the campaign website.

Sarah was taken to Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where it was discovered that her oxygen levels were “very low”.

“The doctor showed me an X-ray of Sarah’s lungs and explained one had been badly injured,” said Ms Griffin.

“The other was therefore working overtime and aggravating her asthma. Sarah also had an infection, so everything combined had a massive impact on her body, extremely quickly.”

Sarah was transferred to the intensive care unit and doctors were forced to put her in an induced coma four hours later.

Ms Griffin described the experience as “heartbreaking” and “a nightmare come true”.

After three days, Sarah was successfully brought out of her coma and her ventilator was removed. She has since been recovering at home.

Ms Griffin said doctors later explained to her that if Sarah had not been vaping, she would have been “in a better position” to fight off the infection.

“The doctors said if Sarah had got to hospital any later, the outcome would have been entirely different. That is something I can’t even think about,” she added.

Even though she is out of the hospital, the recovery process is still not straightforward for Sarah.

“For the rest of her life, Sarah will be classed as a high-risk patient if she is admitted to hospital because of the effect this (episode) has had on her physically,” said Ms Griffin.

“This isn’t a case of a hospital stay and that’s over with. Sarah was discharged with steroids, new inhalers, and a new (personal plan) to help manage her asthma.”

Vaping among the young is an issue in Singapore too, even after it was made illegal in 2018.

There was a sharp rise in cases involving students in the Republic in 2022, with about 800 students referred to the Health Sciences Authority for vaping offences. This is an increase from 2019 and 2018, when the total for both years was fewer than 50.

The Ministry of Education previously said that an average of about seven in every 1,000 students in primary schools, secondary schools and institutes of higher learning have been caught for smoking and vaping offences.

Since 2018, the purchase, possession and use of vaporisers have been outlawed in Singapore. This includes purchases made on the Internet and from overseas.

First-time offenders caught importing, distributing or selling e-vaporisers can be jailed for up to six months, with a maximum fine of $10,000. Repeat offenders can get a jail term of up to 12 months, along with a fine of up to $20,000.