‘Below Deck’ star Fraser Olender opened up about a terrifying health scare, revealing he was hospitalized with a lung injury and a heart attack linked to vaping. The 33-year-old shared that he’s “never experienced fear or pain like it” before.
On Friday, Dec. 5, Olender posted a series of selfies from his hospital room on Instagram, explaining that he had spent the past few weeks recovering from the incident.
“I was rushed to the hospital due to severe chest pains and difficulty breathing,” he wrote. After seeing specialists for a week, Olender learned the cause: vape poisoning, also known as E-cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI). “To keep it simple — I had vape poisoning, and I have never experienced fear or pain like it,” he added.
EVALI, first identified in 2019, can be life-threatening. According to the American Heart Association, more than half of those affected need intensive care, and the condition can lead to serious complications, including bronchiolitis obliterans (popcorn lung) and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
In Olender’s case, vaping triggered a coronary artery vasospasm, which occurs when the arteries supplying blood to the heart suddenly clamp down. “That spasm reduced blood flow enough to cause an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), better known as a heart attack — not because of a blockage, but because my heart wasn’t getting enough oxygen during the spasm,” he explained.
Olender said he’s grateful to be recovering and hopes sharing his story might encourage others to rethink vaping.
While some of his hospital photos were lighthearted — including one with a red-light therapy mask and another of his boyfriend, Las Culturistas host Matt Rogers, flashing a peace sign — Olender emphasized just how serious his experience was.
“The pain I endured for 24 hours was inexplicable. Two rounds of morphine didn’t touch it, and eventually, I had to be given the strongest pain relief legal to administer in the ER — and that only brought my pain from a 10 to a 7,” he wrote. “I haven’t touched a vape since this happened and never will.”
He urged others to quit vaping, writing, “I could have died for the sake of something so ridiculously stupid, so please do yourselves a favor and give it up — cold turkey. We do not know enough about these horrific things, but I can tell you one thing: that was NOT cute, not even for the plot.”
Olender ended his post with a heartfelt message for his followers: “Love you all, be safe, put your health first, and thank you for all of your well wishes. It’s been nearly three weeks off the vape — my skin has never been better, brighter, and clearer. There MUST be a correlation. Best skincare hack out there.”