Below Deck star Fraser Olender is lucky to be alive — and he’s warning fans to quit vaping before it’s too late.
The 33-year-old Bravo personality revealed that he suffered a heart attack and severe lung damage after what doctors called “vape poisoning.”
“A few weeks ago I was rushed to hospital due to severe chest pains and difficulties breathing,” Olender wrote in a shocking Instagram post Friday, alongside haunting photos of him in a hospital gown, hooked up to machines.
“To keep it simple — I had vape poisoning. I have never experienced fear or pain like it,” he said.
Doctors diagnosed the reality star with EVALI (E-cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injury), a dangerous and sometimes fatal condition that causes lungs to inflame and fill with fluid.
Olender said the “arteries supplying blood” to his heart suddenly clamped down — triggering a full-blown heart attack.
He spent a week in London hospitals, undergoing tests and seeing specialists, as doctors fought to stabilize him.
Now recovering, Fraser says he’s done vaping for good — and he’s begging others to quit before tragedy strikes.
“I could have died for the sake of something so ridiculously stupid,” he wrote. “Please do yourselves a favor and give it up too – cold turkey.”
Olender says he hasn’t picked up a vape since — and never will again. “If my story can help even one person rethink vaping,” he said, “then it’s worth it.”
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