When vaping started trending, it seemed like a positive thing—at least initially. After all, it’s not smoking tobacco—it’s vaping oil. Vape oil doesn’t have the same intrusive odor that regular cigarettes do. Early commercials even showed people vaping on the job, in their office. It was marketed as being so harmless that many parents allowed their kids to vape in hopes that it would keep them away from tobacco products.
Now makers of vaping and e-cig products such as Juul find themselves in the same place tobacco companies were decades ago—responsible for lost lives. If you lost a loved one to a lung injury or other injury caused by vaping, you have a long road to recovery ahead of you. Keep reading to receive some advice to help you along the way.
After Losing a Loved One, the First Step Is Always Grieving
Vaping is more of a phenomenon among young people than it is anyone else in the US. When vapes and electronic cigarettes hit the market a little over a decade ago, young people flocked to them in droves.
They thought they’d found a safer alternative to regular cigarettes, but all they found was more of the same: chest pain, shortness of breath, serious lung illness and, eventually, death. Death is always heartbreaking, but when it hits young adults in the prime of their youth, it hits you much harder than someone dying of old age.
Another hard part of losing young people is that they usually don’t have life insurance. To offset funeral costs, you can go with a cremator like Heritage Cremation Provider and save up to 90% compared to a traditional burial. You’re already dealing with the loss of someone dear to you—don’t compound your hardship by digging a financial hole to pay for their funeral.
If You’ve Lost a Loved One Due to Vaping, You May Be Entitled to Compensation
The words in the header are all too familiar, aren’t they? Surely, you’ve heard those exact words articulated clearly in some low-budget commercial sandwiched between the penultimate and last segment of your favorite show. If you lost a loved one due to a vaping illness, then you need to get on the ball to make sure that you get justice.
Young adults and teens who began vaping a few years ago had no idea of the danger they were putting themselves in. Vaping can be addictive like smoking regular cigarettes because vapes and e-cigs contain nicotine.
Since they’re smokeless and tobacco-free, vendors got away with marketing vape and e-cig products to young people who weren’t of smoking age. Using brightly colored boxes and fruity flavors, companies like Juul caught the attention of the youth and made nicotine addicts of them.
Vape and e-cig companies took advantage of the perception that they’re a safe alternative to tobacco and left a trail of vaping-related injuries and deaths in their wake. If you lost someone closed to you to EVALI or some other lung illness, then you need to take swift action.
When You Get Better, Give Back
One thing that people often underestimate is the effect that their triumph over tragedy can have on others. Unfortunately, the loved one you lost to vaping won’t be the last person to go.
In spite of warnings from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), people still choose to vape. There will be more young adults who suffer from a vaping-related illness of some kind as well as more stressed and depressed families.
Sometimes the best way to get over your own grief is to prevent others from enduring the same pain. The fact that you’ve lost a loved one to a vaping related-illness and overcame your trials qualifies you to help others do the same.
