Rep. Barbieri, meet my sick son

In response to Rep. Vito Barbieri’s article in the March 7 paper:

I just returned from visiting my son, who has been in ICU at Deaconess Hospital since Feb. 29. He was taken to emergency on that day after hemorrhaging from his arteries in his throat (esophagus). He was bleeding to death. My grandson rushed him to the hospital emergency just in time. They performed emergency surgery to stop the bleeding.

The doctors discovered that he was a habitual user of a Vape pen. The very kind that Mr. Barbieri is advocating is harmless for our youth.

Vaping is done by pouring a flavored liquid that contains nicotine, and several ingredients that are not listed, and could contain anything, into a vape pen. When a person inhales the vapors, they go into the esophagus and the wind pipe and into the lungs.

The vapors are moist and cling to the esophagus as well as the windpipe and lungs. It causes irritation to these structures. When there is enough irritation, the arteries in the esophagus rupture and can hemorrhage like they did in my son’s throat.

No one knows what the ingredients are in a vaping pen or where they are manufactured. My son started vaping because the doctor told him it was a way to quit cigarettes. He became addicted to vaping.

The doctor at the hospital told him the nicotine is just as habit forming as the nicotine in cigarettes and there is potential of more danger in vaping because of the moist vapor that clings to the throat and lungs.

My great-grandson had a terrible experience from vaping. He was at school and a friend had a vaping pen, and put a large amount of the vaping ingredients in the vape pen and handed it to him. He inhaled it. He immediately stopped breathing, had a seizure, fell on the floor and was unconscious. He suffers from the after-effects to this day.

No one could advocate selling this harmful habit to our youth if they could witness what I have seen. My son is in ICU with a breathing tube. He has had several transfusions. I don’t know if I will be bringing him home or not.

Nicotine is harmful. If an ounce is injected into a 150-pound man, it will kill him. I don’t know how anyone could advocate getting our youth hooked on a habit that is potentially more dangerous or just as habit forming as cigarettes. It needs to be illegal to sell flavored vaping materials to our youth. Why do they have to smoke anything?

I only hope this gets published so parents can see the potential danger that there is in vaping. Watching your child cling to life in ICU is a horrible thing to witness.

Please don’t let them alter House Bill 858. Vaping has killed some of our youth. Life is more important than profit. I am sure Mr. Barbieri would not advocate addicting our youth to a dangerous habit if he knew the repercussions. I know that he runs a Post Falls Vape shop. But addicting our youth to harmful habits is not in the best interest of the community.

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Billie Leonard is a Rathdrum resident.