Chance Ammirata is trying to spread the word that vaping is no better than smoking cigarettes. And it’s personal for this 18-year-old. CBS News writes:

Emergency room doctors told him his right lung had a hole in it and had collapsed.

“I just freaked out – they said, ‘Your lung has collapsed. You have to go to surgery right now.'”

The report goes on to say:

Ammirata, who had never been a traditional smoker, said he started using Juul e-cigarettes a year and a half ago, when he was 16. He now believes Juuls caused his lung injury.

Now the young man has started an internet campaign with the hashtags: #lunglove #stopjuul #revolution  #wewillmakeachange #wearenotcontrolled

He writes that he believes, “enough is enough and that nicotine is rotting our brains and destroying our bodies.” 

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This whole experience is absolutely insane and life changing (disclaimer I don’t always look this bad just when I’m glued to the hospital bed for 5 days) I came into this experience completely negative mad at the world , and scared of how things were gonna turn out after my lung collapsed. But I decided to take this negative and completely find another meaning. I decided that spreading my story could help others not have to go through the same thing as me. One by one reading each message from every single one of you explaining how I was able to CHANGE YOUR MINDSET I was able to help you throw out your juul. Makes you realize enough is enough and that nicotine is rotting our brains and destroying our bodies. It overcame me with emotions. I’ve never been happier to make such a difference. My surgery to get my chest tube removed is scheduled in around 2/3 hours and I’m insanely nervous. But I want to make sure my story is always out there. And that the change doesn’t stop. Every day we need to fight to help not only ourselves but the ones we love put down the nicotine. This epedemic has taken enough. We don’t need more evidence telling us just how bad it is. How many more kids are going to have to get hospitalized for us to stop !? None should be the answer don’t take this with a grain of salt. And keep on pushing yourselves to take control of these cravings. I know it’s hard , and I know it will be a long one/2 weeks of getting over the addiction. But 1/2 weeks is so much more worth it than a lifetime of consequences. #lunglove #stopjuul #revolution #wewillmakeachange #wearenotcontrolled edit: hole* reference to third slide

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CBS says, “Juul declined to comment on his case.” But ABC recently reported:

Federal health officials are investigating potential links between lung illnesses and e-cigarettes amid the soaring popularity of so-called vaping among young people.

Since June 28, there have been at least 94 cases reported across several states involving people with “severe pulmonary disease” possibly tied to vaping, with the majority of those affected being teenagers and young adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Watch CBS’s full report above.