Connor Evans, 21, was hospitalized in May this year in Pennsylvania

He had been struggling to breathe, was vomiting and could not eat or drink

A year earlier, he took his first hit of a JUUL at a college party

Evans said he fell 'in love' with it and started smoking a pod every day

But when he got to the hospital doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia

They put him in a medically induced coma for eight days and he had to relearn how to walk

Now, he is suing the company claiming it unfairly targets young people

He had never smoked tobacco products before, he said, and he was unaware of the health risks associated with vaping

A college student is suing JUUL after being hospitalized with pneumonia, claiming the embattled vaping giant falsely advertised its product as being safe.

Connor Evans, 21, from Pennsylvania, was hospitalized in May, a year after he first took a hit of the popular e-cigarette at a college party.

ADVERTISEMENT

He was taken to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing and was shocked to be told when he got there that up his lungs were '80 percent filled with liquid'.

Evans was placed in a medically induced coma for eight days. When he was brought out of it, he had to relearn how to walk.

Now, he is suing JUUL claiming it is responsible for the drastic deterioration in his health.

In this image that was part of his lawsuit, Connor Evans is shown in the hospital after being placed in a medically induced coma for eight days. He had acute pneumonia and could not breath properly let alone eat or drink. Doctors said they had never seen anything like his injuries. He blames it on JUUL and says he became addicted to its vaping pods

Evans cried on Tuesday as he told Good Morning America about becoming suddenly addicted to the e-cigarette and how he believes it nearly cost him his life

In an interview on Good Morning America on Tuesday, the student wept as he recalled the first time he smoked JUUL at a college party.

'I wish I never had,' he said.

'It’s highly addictive. You know, it could literally - it could only take one hit and then you know, you’re into it,' he said.

Evans started smoking in July 2018. Soon, he became so addicted he was smoking one mint pod per day.

Click here to resize this module

Once he used JUUL he was 'in love' and over the course of one year turned to smoking one mint JUUL pod per day.

'[He] was able to take a hit in his car, at work, in his home, and outdoors. Based on JUUL’s pervasive and misleading advertising, [he] believed that JUUL was safe,' his lawsuit reads.

Evans first went to the doctor in May 2019, complaining of a sore throat.

He was prescribed Tamiflu but two days later, his symptoms grew worse.

He was having trouble breathing, was vomiting and dry heaving and he could not eat or drink.

He went to the emergency room where he was told he had a fever of 102 degrees and doctors discovered he had sepsis and pneumonia.

The 21-year-old spent eight days in a coma before being brought around. His symptoms started as flu-like

His lawsuit claims the doctors told his parents they had 'never seen anything like' what was happening to his body.

Evans is shown having to relearn how to walk in the hospital after being brought out of his coma

Evans' condition worsened and he was taken for a CT which showed that he had 'diffuse ground glass and alveolar infiltrates and trace pleural effusion' in his chest.

He was still struggling to breathe and was becoming increasingly anxious as a result.

A second CT showed Pulmonary alveolar hemorrhage. He was put in a medically induced coma for eight days.

Doctors diagnosed him with acute pneumontis which they said was caused by 'viral infection or inhalation exposure'.

His lawsuit, which DailyMail.com obtained a copy of, accuses the company of deliberately targeting young people who have never smoked cigarettes with social media advertising.

ADVERTISEMENT

It says it lulls them into a false sense of security by claiming they are safer than ordinary tobacco products, when in fact they contain higher doses of nicotine than other items on the market.

'JUUL advertises its e-cigarettes and pods deliberately to attract minors and young adults, including those who have never even been regular tobacco smokers.

'JUUL system delivers more potent doses of nicotine than traditional cigarettes. Under the guise of a safe alternative, JUUL thus exposes these nonregular-tobacco users to highly-addictive products,' Evans' lawsuit reads.

JUUL did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's inquiries on Tuesday.

The company is among e-cigarette manufacturers which have come under fire recently amid a rising number of complaints that their products are causing serious lung injuries, particularly among young people who believe they safer than ordinary cigarettes.