Peter took up vaping to kick smoking – and it likely killed him

Peter Hansen started vaping nine years ago, to kick his long-time cigarette smoking addiction before the birth of his first grandchild – but the thing that was supposed to save him likely killed him.

Peter Hansen and his wife Pam Ashdown. An autopsy found Peter, who died on his 71st birthday, most likely died from EVALI. Picture: Supplied

Peter Hansen started vaping nine years ago, to kick his long-time cigarette smoking addiction before the birth of his first grandchild.

But the thing that was supposed to save him likely killed him, with an autopsy finding the probable cause of Hansen’s death was the emerging illness known as e-­cigarette or vaping associated lung injury.

Hansen, from Airlie Beach in northern Queensland, is the human face of EVALI, a disturbing illness that has emerged alongside the rise of vaping.

His wife, Pam Ashdown, said doctors told her that her husband of more than three decades might still be alive if he had not turned to vaping.

Instead, he died on his 71st birthday on October 6, 2021, surrounded by those family members who could get to Mackay on short notice amid Covid border closures.

“He was a funny, beautiful, ­really lovely man,” Ms Ashdown said. “He was so proud of the fact he wasn’t smoking anymore.”

Pam Ashdown, who ran the Mango House resort in Airlie Beach with her husband Peter Hansen before Peter died. It is suspected he died due to an e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury. Picture: Peter Eve/The Australian

Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson said EVALI was most likely caused by the vitamin E acetate found in e-cigarette vapour, which caused severe pneumonitis and severe inflammation of the lungs.

“We’re learning it’s a lung injury probably from a specific ­element that seems to be exclusively in vaping vapour,’’ Professor Robson said.

“It didn’t exist a few years ago so it’s caught a lot of the medical profession off guard because nobody really had any experience with it. It seems to be potentially really quite dangerous.”

Hansen was taken to Proserpine Hospital complaining of chest pain on Sunday, October 3, 2021, amid fears he was experiencing a heart attack.

Four days later he was critically ill on a ventilator in intensive care, after being transferred to Mackay Base Hospital. His family was forced to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off life support, spending his last 12 hours with him listening to music and talking.

Ms Ashdown was grief-stricken and confused. How could her loving husband have declined so quickly?

“It was just out of the blue,” she said. “One minute he didn’t feel well and that was the end.”

Sean McManus was working as an intensive care specialist at Mackay Base Hospital in October 2021 when he got a call saying a patient, Hansen, had deteriorated en route from Proserpine Hospital.

“He looked like he was gasping for air and he was very distressed,” he said. “We weren’t exactly sure what was going on at that stage but it was clear he needed support.”

Dr McManus put Hansen on a ventilator but soon discovered the grandfather had an unsurvivable lung injury.

An autopsy by Pathology Queensland found Hansen’s lungs were 2½ times the expected weight, had damage consistent with the inhalation of hot gas and an abnormal collection of fluid.

The report, requested by Dr McManus with permission from Hansen’s family, found his case met three of four criteria for EVALI determined by the Centres for Disease Control in the US.

Peter Hansen and Pam Ashdown on their wedding day. Picture: Supplied

Hansen has his arm around Ms Ashdown’s shoulder in a photo taken on their wedding day. The newlyweds are beaming, and Ms Ashdown clutches a bouquet of pink roses.

Together they built a family and a business in the tourist town of Airlie Beach.

Ms Ashdown is still running the resort a year and a half after her husband died, something she says has been a bit of a learning curve.

Just before Christmas last year, she received a letter from QuitClinics, the company that prescribed her husband the e-cigarettes. “You’ve made the first step towards your smokefree journey. Not only will your lungs thank you but so will your wallet,” it said.

QuitClinics managing director Samuel Murray offered the telehealth company’s condolences to Hansen’s family.

Ms Ashdown has received angry phone calls from the owners of vape stores who accuse her of ruining their businesses by speaking out. She doesn’t let it bother her, but she’s saddened when she sees people, especially the young, vaping. “I’m really sad the government hasn’t done more to show people it’s dangerous,” she said.