❓WHAT HAPPENED: A teenager fell into a coma from contracting meningitis after sharing a vape.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Sian Alderton, an 18-year-old from Norfolk, England, and her mother, Kerrie Durrant.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Alderton contracted meningitis in October 2024, in Norfolk, England; she and her mother reported the incident in March 2026.
💬KEY QUOTE: “I did share a vape with multiple people on that night out, so we believe that’s where I would have gotten it from.” – Sian Alderton
🎯IMPACT: The incident highlights the health risks associated with vapes.
A mother in Norfolk, England, is warning others after her daughter was placed in a medically-induced coma due to meningitis contracted from sharing a vape. Sian Alderton, then 18, was enjoying a night out in October 2024 when she contracted bacterial meningitis B. Within just 48 hours, Sian’s condition deteriorated from mild illness to a life-threatening state.
Amid a new meningitis outbreak in England over recent weeks, Sian’s mother, Kerrie Durrant, recounted to local news how her daughter exhibited strange behavior before her condition dramatically worsened overnight, leading to a critical situation where she was struggling to move and required immediate hospitalization.
Upon her admission to the hospital, doctors placed Sian in an induced coma as her condition became dire. The family was informed that she might not survive beyond 24 hours. Fortunately, she did, explaining, “I did share a vape with multiple people on that night out, so we believe that’s where I would have gotten it from,” adding, “I wouldn’t share [a vape] with anybody anymore.”
Vapes also present a threat to wildlife. Viral videos have spread over recent days showing squirrels, attracted by the vapes’ fruity aromas, “vaping” after mistaking discarded devices for food. They are also a fire hazard, with a blaze at an unregistered store in Glasgow, Scotland, recently burning down a 175-year-old building and causing the country’s largest railway station to close for days.
Even more troublingly, vape stores on both sides of the Atlantic have become hubs for anti-social behavior and organized crime, including human trafficking and immigration crime.
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