A WOMAN who started vaping aged 15 has begged others to kick the habit after being diagnosed with lung cancer at 21.
Kayley Boda, now 22, was getting through one 600-puff vape a week when she started coughing up ‘grainy’ brown gunk from her lungs in January 2025.
The retail assistant, from Manchester, said that doctors turned her away eight times, telling her that she had a chest infection – until she began coughing up blood.
Doctors then X-rayed Kayley and found a shadow on her lung, and the 21-year-old was eventually diagnosed with lung cancer.
She has since undergone surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, as well as chemotherapy, as was left so weak she had to relearn how to walk.
Now she’s warning others to be aware of the potential dangers of vaping, claiming “they will catch up with you”.
Kayley said: “A few months after I switched from reusable vapes to disposable ones, I started coughing up brown, grainy mucus.
“Doctors turned me away eight times with a chest infection.
“Then I started coughing up blood, so they did an X-Ray and found a shadow on my lung.
“They told me they were 99 per cent sure with me being so young that it wasn’t cancer, so not to worry about it.
“When I got the results back and they told me it was lung cancer, it felt so surreal.
“Before the diagnosis, I was very naïve and thought that something like this would never happen to me.”
Kayley said that doctors couldn’t give her a definitive answer on the cause of her cancer, but told her that smoking and vaping definitely didn’t help.
“I’ve put the cancer down to vaping because my symptoms started a few months after I started disposable vapes, and there’s no lung cancer in my family,” she said.
“I haven’t vaped for three months, I’ve made my partner stop, I’ve made my mum stop, I’m urging all my friends to stop.
“Stay off the vapes, because they will catch up with you.”
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) states there is no good evidence that vaping causes cancer.
Vapes are widely considered to be less harmful than smoking, as they don’t contain cancer-causing tobacco or most of the toxic chemicals cigarettes have, such as tar and carbon monoxide.
People who switch completely from smoking to vaping can lower their risk of cancer, lung disease, heart disease and stroke.
This being said, the devices aren’t without risk.
I can’t go up and down stairs on my own, I have to have a commode in my room. I don’t go out with my friends anymore because I’m so embarrassed that I can’t even walk to the bottom of the road
Kayley Boda
As they haven’t for around for as long as cigarettes, there isn’t extensive research on the subject – but studies suggest vapes could spike blood pressure, or up the risk of chronic lung disease or asthma.
Recent research suggest vapes can double the risk of heart attack and stroke in ex-smokers.
They also contain nicotine, which is an addictive substance.
CRUK says e-cigarettes should only be used to help you stop smoking, or to stop you going back to tobacco.
Don’t start vaping if you have never smoked.
‘Really scared’
Kayley started smoking a bit as a teen and used reusable vapes from the age of 15.
She only started using disposable vapes a few months before her cancer symptoms started.
In November 2024, Kayley developed a rash all over her body, which doctors put down to shingles, chicken pox, or scabies.
“I got treated for all three, and nothing worked,” she said.
“It got the point where I was cutting myself from scratching so hard.”
A few months later, she began coughing up a dark brown mucus that was grainy and had the consistency of sugar.
Kayley said: “At first I thought it was normal, because I vaped a lot, so I brushed it off.”
When the coughing continued she went to the doctors but was told it could be scarring from pneumonia, or a chest infection.
In March 2025, Kayley then began coughing up bright red blood, and went back to the doctors, where she was given a chest X-Ray, and told there was a shadow on her lower right lung.
How to quit vaping
Giving up vaping can be tricky, but it’s totally doable.
Much like with smoking, start by setting a quit date and let your friends and family know so they can support you.
It helps to cut down gradually if going cold turkey feels too much.
When cravings hit, distract yourself with something like chewing gum or going for a walk.
Try to stay clear of places where you usually vape and find new ways to relax without reaching for your vape.
If you need extra help, stop-smoking services can offer great advice and support to keep you on track.
Celebrate the small wins, you’re making progress every day.
Source: NHS
Over the next four months, Kayley had seven biopsies, where doctors took samples of the “shadow”.
She was told not to worry but in August, when Kayley went in to get the results of the biopsy, she was told she had stage one lung cancer.
In September, Kayley had surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, and the surrounding lymph nodes.
During the surgery, doctors upstaged Kayley’s cancer from stage one to stage three, after finding cancer in six surrounding lymph nodes.
Following the surgery, Kayley was unable to breathe properly and had to learn to walk again.
Kayley said: “I had surgery to remove half of my right lung, it gave me PTSD.
“I have the same dream every night, where I wake up in that hospital bed not being able to breathe, having to learn to walk again.
“I still can’t sleep on the side where my surgery was, I can’t go up and down stairs on my own, I have to have a commode in my room.
“I don’t go out with my friends anymore because I’m so embarrassed that I can’t even walk to the bottom of the road.”
Kayley is now having chemotherapy to fight the cancer found in her lymph nodes, but had an awful reaction after her first round in November.
“After the surgery, I started chemo and I had a terrible reaction to it,” she explained.
“I couldn’t lift my head up, I was throwing up blood, I was urinating blood.
“I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I lost 4kg in four days.”
She ended up back in hospital and doctors waiting for her body to recover before she has anymore treatment.
“I’m really scared to start chemo again, I don’t want to feel how I did last time,” she said.
Kayley has given up vaping for good since her diagnosis and is urging others to stop too.
