North Carolina
North Carolina woman warns of vaping dangers after teen stepson’s sudden death: ‘We had no clue’
A North Carolina woman is sounding the alarm about the potential dangers of vaping after her 15-year-old stepson’s unexpected death.
Solomon Wynn’s family took him off a ventilator in mid-June, just months after the teenage football player developed a bad cough.
“We went to the primary care doctor because he had a bad cough. They diagnosed him with what they thought was bronchitis,” his stepmother, Charlene Zorn of Wilmington, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
Doctors prescribed Solomon antibiotics, steroids and inhalers, but nothing seemed to help improve his condition, so they referred him to a pulmonologist. The pulmonologist did allergy testing and test X-rays on Solomon, determining in April he had been vaping.
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A pulmonologist determined in April that Solomon Wynn had been vaping. (Charlene Zorn)
“By looking at the test X-rays, she knew,” Zorn said.
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Prior to his sudden cough, Solomon had been a healthy teenager. He “loved” football, his stepmother said. Once he began going to the gym with his dad, Zorn said, it became a routine. Solomon went to the gym “every morning.”
Prior to his sudden cough, Solomon Wynn had been a healthy teenager. He “loved” football, his stepmother said. Once he began going to the gym with his dad, Zorn said, it became a routine. Solomon went to the gym “every morning.” (Charlene Zorn)
“He openly admitted it to the doctor. He didn’t try and deny it,” Zorn said of the moment Solomon’s doctor said he had been vaping. “As parents, we had no clue. We had no indication that he had been vaping. Neither his father nor myself smoke, so there were no products in our house that he could get. It wasn’t that it was something accessible to him. It was something he got through his friends.”
He also admitted that his friends provided him with vapes and “showed him how to do it,” Zorn said.
But once the cough began, Solomon’s strength gradually declined to the point he couldn’t walk for five minutes, Zorn said.
“After about a minute and a half, he had to stop because his breathing had become labored.”
Solomon Wynn’s family took him off a ventilator in mid-June, just months after the teenage football player developed a bad cough. (Charlene Wynn)
“The CAT scan showed that there was fluid in three places on his lungs and surrounding his heart. He was supposed to see the cardiologist that following Monday because, obviously, they had concerns because it was affecting his heart. And then on that Friday, on June 16, he collapsed and then ended up in the hospital on a ventilator,” Zorn recalled.
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He collapsed on June 16 and died the next day, shocking his family, friends and football team at school. Zorn implored Solomon’s teammates at his funeral to give up vaping.
A CAT scan showed fluid in Solomon Wynn’s lungs and around his heart. (Charlene Zorn)
“All these things that we thought Solomon was going to do — we thought he would play football all the way through high school. He talked on and off about the military. He talked about jobs that he wanted to have,” Zorn said. “We even joked about him even having a family someday. None of those things are going to happen now. … We have memories. That’s all we have now.”
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Just before the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of February 2020, more than 2,800 people in 50 states and two U.S. territories had been hospitalized or died due to a vaping- and THC-related lung illness called e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury, or EVALI.
People walk past a vape shop in central London April 11, 2023. (REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo)
“The vapes have all sorts of metals in them. They have strong nicotine in them that it affects the lungs, it turns them into — they call it popcorn lungs,” Zorn said.
The CDC has since stopped tracking EVALI deaths because they have become less frequent.
Symptoms of EVALI include “respiratory symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath or chest pain; gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, or diarrhea; and nonspecific constitutional symptoms, like fever, chills, or weight loss,” according to the CDC.
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic erupted across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of February 2020, more than 2,800 people in 50 states and two U.S. territories had been hospitalized or died due to a vaping- and THC-related lung illness called e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury. (John Keeble)
The CDC also notes that vapes or e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which “is highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development,” continuing into the “early to mid-20s.”
Tobacco remains the No. 1 leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., killing nearly 480,000 people annually, according to the anti-tobacco campaign Tobacco-Free Kids.
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Zorn noted, however, that vaping and e-cigarette culture is different than smoking culture for American children. While few American children and teenagers smoke, vaping is common, and kids share vaping products with each other in school.
Charlene Zorn said vaping and e-cigarette culture is different from smoking culture for American children. While few American children and teenagers smoke, vaping is common, and kids share vaping products with each other in school. (Charlene Zorn)
A shocking 2022 CDC study noted that more than 2.5 million American teens vape. About 85% of teens surveyed said they used flavored e-cigarette products.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned all flavors, including sweet and fruity flavors popular among kids, except tobacco and menthol in an effort to curb youth vaping, but certain flavored vape products are still making their way into the market.
Charlene Zorn has advice for parents: “Talk to your kids.” (Charlene Zorn)
“People think that we’re exaggerating or, ‘Oh, this can’t happen to my kid.’ … The death rate among kids vaping is very low, yes, but the rate of kids ending up in the hospital and the kids getting sick is on the increase, not the decrease,” Zorn said.
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Zorn has one piece of advice for parents: “Talk to your kids.”
She says parents should discuss vaping in the same way they would talk to their children about safe sex, smoking and drinking.
The National Hurricane Center continues to monitor a tropical depression over Cuba. It’s expected to become a tropical storm later Saturday, bringing impacts to the Carolinas around the middle of next week.
Heavy rainfall and flooding are the primary impacts expected, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
“Gusty winds are also possible, but it is too early to predict specific impacts in great detail at this time,” the weather service said.
At the same time, there is the potential for heavy rainfall and some flooding associated with front expected to stall inland this weekend.
As of 11 a.m. Saturday, the center of the tropical depression, which would be name Debby if it becomes a tropical storm, was over Cuba and moving west-northwest near 15 mph. The hurricane center said a turn toward the northwest is forecast for Saturday, followed by a northward motion on Sunday and then a slower northeastwardmotion Sunday night and Monday.
Maximum sustained winds were near 35 mph. Slow strengthening is expected throughout the day Saturday. Faster strengthening is possible Sunday, with the storm nearing hurricane strength when it reaches the Florida Gulf Coast, the hurricane center said.
STORM TRACKER: Monitor the latest tropical developments here.
Here’s a look at what we can expect in the Wilmington area, according to the latest briefing from the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
Wind
The probability of tropical storm force winds has increased, especially for the South Carolina coast. The most likely time of arrival of for northeast South Carolina is Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, and for Southeastern North Carolina is during Wednesday morning.
Rain
The potential for significant rainfall exists with 8 to 12 inches possible from near Cape Fear to portions of thenortheast South Carolina coast. Flash flooding and urban flooding are possible. Some rivers, including the North Cape Fear River and the Waccamaw River, could exceed flood stage next week.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Enter your address to see hurricanes, tropical storms that have passed nearby
Marine impacts
Rough surf, including dangerous rip currents, and hazardous marine conditions are expected this weekend and will persist into the upcoming week.
Are you prepared for a hurricane?
Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Even if this system won’t pose a threat to the NC coast, it’s never too early to be prepared.
GET READY: Are you prepared for a hurricane? Here’s what to know if you live in the Wilmington area.
As of the 5 AM update Friday, Tropical Depression Four has formed. Areas along the East Coast including North Carolina need to continue monitoring this system. Winds are at 30 MPH and gusts are up to 40 MPH. The pressure dropped to 1009 mb and is moving to the west at 16 mph. TD 4 is expected to become Tropical Storm Debby over the weekend. Tuesday night and Wednesday are First Alert Weather Days due to the threat to ENC from this system but we may need to adjust the timing as we get closer.
It’ll move slowly before escaping to the north next week. As it moves up the East Coast, there’s a lot more uncertainty about the track and threats. We expect the track of this system to change through the weekend and even into next week. If ENC sees impacts from this system, they’d likely come mid-week. The longer this system stays over land, the weaker it’ll be. It’ll have the chance to strengthen if it moves back over open water, especially if it moves over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.
The speed of this system is just as important as the strength. The quicker it moves through, the less rain piles up. If it slows down or stalls, higher rainfall amounts would be expected. Our river levels have dropped a bit since July’s wet weather, but levels are still higher than what you’d find in a typical August.
This is a reminder that we are heading into the heart of the hurricane season and to make sure your emergency supplies are ready.
Stay with WITN and WITN.com as we continue to track this system over the coming days and monitor the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.
Copyright 2024 WITN. All rights reserved.
North Carolina
Alabama man on work trip stops to buy $3 quick pick Powerball ticket, wins 6-figure jackpot
Christopher Baker of Leesburg, Alabama was on a work trip in Hickory, North Carolina, when he thought he’d try his luck on a lotto game. It turned out to be a lucrative Powerball win.
An Alabama man on a work trip in North Carolina bought a $3 Quick Pick Powerball ticket on a whim and walked away with a six-figure windfall.
Christopher Baker of Leesburg in northeastern Alabama bought his lucky ticket in July in Hickory, North Carolina, where had been traveling for work, according to Powerball.
When the numbers were drawn, Baker says he had to do a double-take when he realized he had a $100,000 winning ticket. He had matched four white balls and the red Powerball, which would have been $50,000, but a 2X multiplier doubled the win and the disbelief.
“I just kept looking at it to make sure I was reading it right,” he laughed, according to Powerball. “I told my family but they didn’t believe me. either.”
Baker, who called his win “a shocker.” said he plans to save his winnings to buy a house.
Baker will take home $71,501 after federal and state taxes are withheld.
How to play the Powerball
In order to purchase a $2 Powerball ticket, you’ll have to visit your local convenience store, gas station or grocery store − and in a handful of states, you can purchase tickets online.
To play, you will need to pick six numbers in total to mark on your ticket. Five numbers will be white balls ranging from numbers 1 to 69. The Powerball is red and one number which is between 1 and 26.
If you want to increase your chances of winning, you can add a “Power Play” for $1 which increases the winnings for all non-jackpot prizes. This addition can multiply winnings by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, or 10X.
Players can also ask a cashier for a “Quick Pick” where a cashier will give you a computer generated numbers on a printed Powerball ticket.
Drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights. If there’s no jackpot winner, the cash prize will increase by millions.
Where to purchase tickets
Tickets can be purchased in person at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.
You can also order tickets online through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, in these U.S. states and territories: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Texas, Washington D.C. and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to pick your lottery game and numbers, place your order, see your ticket and collect your winnings all using your phone or home computer.
Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. Must be 18+, 21+ in AZ and 19+ in NE. Not affiliated with any State Lottery. Gambling Problem? Call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY); 1-800-327-5050(MA); 1-877-MYLIMIT (OR); 1-800-981-0023 (PR); 1-800-GAMBLER (all others). Visit jackpocket.com/tos for full terms.
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