-When I look at it now, I think at that time
I was just very concerned about Adam
and was worried about just being there for him
and getting him better.
But when I look back at it now,
you just see how seriously sick he was.
It still gets to me.
-Adam Hergenreder had been vaping for two years.
In September, he found himself struggling to breathe.
-I was violently shaking, it kind of felt like a seizure,
because I couldn't control myself.
And then the next day, I started violently throwing up,
non-stop for three days,
as well as experiencing difficulty breathing.
They thought it was the flu.
-As his condition worsened, the 18-year-old's
mother took him to the ER.
-These were Adam's lungs on X-ray
the day he came to the hospital.
So we see patients with bad X-rays like this in the hospital
and in the intensive care unit every day,
every critical care doctor does,
but we don't typically see them in 18 year olds,
16 year olds, 21 year olds.
That's very unusual.
-Doctors treating him were able to make a diagnosis quickly,
as hundreds were reporting illnesses
related to vaping across the country.
-His symptoms very much matched the description
in alerts we had received from
the Illinois Department of Public Health
about these cases of severe vaping-related lung injury.
-So when the doctor had told me that it was
because of his vaping, I was angry.
You know, like, "You kind of did this to yourself."
But then, when they were telling me the severity of it
and how severe his lungs were, then I was terrified for my son.
And especially when they tell you that
if I didn't bring him when we brought him he would have died.
That's the scariest thing a parent ever wants to hear.
-Health officials are still trying to figure out
what is causing these pneumonia-like symptoms,
but just like Adam, most patients have reported
using products containing THC, and CDC officials
believe black-market products may be to blame.
-Inhaling oil causes your immune system
to react to that oil and leads to inflammation,
and that's really what we're facing here
when we talk about pneumonia, is inflammation in the lungs.
It was first diagnosed as a viral or bacterial pneumonia,
it was only when it didn't respond to standard treatment
that it began to look like something different.
-Adam first started vaping nicotine pods sold
by e-cigarette maker Juul.
His family is now suing the company.
-Young kids like Adam, they never would have smoked,
they never would have tried a traditional combustible
cigarette had it not been for the marketing practices of Juul.
-I did use the THC products, but I don't think I would have
started using those THC products if I hadn't Juuled.
-In an e-mailed statement to The Post,
Juul said they "never marketed to youth"
and "do not want any non-nicotine users
to try our products".
Regarding these vaping-related illnesses,
the company said that,
"Illegal counterfeit and copycat products
including those with controlled substances
must be kept out of the market."
-But most of the lung field here --
-But doctors and health experts warn that may not be enough.
-This cluster could be the proverbial canary
in the coal mine, where it calls our attention
to something which is really quite lethal
and we're gonna see a lot more of in the future.
I don't know if that's the case, but it's my biggest worry.
-We're seeing fewer new cases of COPD, emphysema, lung cancer,
and I kind of hope that by the time I retired
we'd be through most of that
because smoking rates have declined so much,
but now I'm concerned that 20, 30 years from now,
we'll discover some whole new lung disease
related to people who are vaping for 15, 20,
30 years on a regular basis
and not knowing what's gonna happen to their lungs from that.
-After a few weeks in the hospital,
Adam is back home, but still struggling.
-I feel better, but my lungs are never gonna be 100%.
I haven't really started doing any activity,
because when I do -- I mean, just going up stairs,
I get winded doing that.
-There are many families that just kind of brush
these kind of things under the rug.
We want to educate people and share Adam's pictures
and share his story and have it out there.
We're not gonna be quiet about this.