A mother has shared a painful memory of the conversation she had with a doctor after her teenage daughter became seriously ill with ‘popcorn lung.’
Christie Martin received an urgent call from her daughter, Brianne Cullen, who said she was having trouble breathing. Panicked, Christie rushed the 17-year-old to the emergency room, where doctors gave her oxygen, conducted X-rays, and gave her medication. The diagnosis was bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare lung disease commonly known as ‘popcorn lung.’
This condition occurs when scar tissue builds up in the lungs, making it hard for air to flow. What Christie didn’t know at the time was that Brianne had been secretly vaping since she was 14.
Describing the day her daughter became ill, Christie, from Henderson, Nevada, said: “Brianne went to cheer practice sick, with a cough and sore throat. She was doing lifts and tumbling, which is physically demanding. Then, she called me and said she couldn’t catch her breath. I couldn’t understand her—it was terrifying.”
Christie believes cheerleading may have saved Brianne’s life. “The physical strain from cheer practice on top of being sick made her realize she couldn’t breathe,” Christie said.
When they got to the hospital, the doctor told them they needed to have a serious talk. “I never expected the news. Popcorn lung is permanent, and kids are dying from it,” Christie recalled. “We still don’t know if there will be long-term effects.”
Brianne, who had been vaping with a $25 vape she bought each month for three years, was given an inhaler. Doctors told Christie they caught the condition early enough for her to make a full recovery, though there may be future risks like cancer. Christie felt devastated, thinking she had failed as a mother.
Now, Christie is urging other parents to stop their children from using vapes and e-cigarettes. “We need to take these off the market,” she said, warning that vaping is worse than smoking.