Posted3/15/2021 5:30 AM
Adam Hergenreder was 16 when he started vaping as a way to fit in with friends at Warren Township High School. His favorite flavors were mint, mango and cucumber, and he would go through the nicotine equivalent of about a pack of cigarettes a day.
About two years later, the Gurnee resident wound up in the hospital struggling to breathe. His doctors told him that his lungs looked like they belonged to a 70-year-old.
Hergenreder s story made national news in 2019 and now it has inspired state Rep. Joyce Mason, a Gurnee Democrat, to introduce a measure to include the health risks of vaping in the public school curriculum.