I smoked just once and had to be put on life support — doctors found mold growing in my lungs

A model who makes millions online was rushed to hospital after one smoke led to mold invading her lungs, nose and ears — with doctors forced to put her on life support. 

What began as a seemingly innocent puff soon spiraled into a nightmare for Madelynn May.

Curious what it would taste like, the now 23-year-old tried marijuana mixed with tobacco for the first time while hanging out with a friend.

Within minutes, the influencer was coughing, breathless and then passed out — only to later wake up as she was being driven to the hospital.

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“My lungs failed me and started growing mold,” said Madelynn, who loves in Memphis, Tennessee and has over 600,000 Instagram followers (@bubbybabyZ0).

“I was at my friend’s house and after a puff, I just couldn’t breathe all of a sudden. I kept coughing and eventually passed out from the lack of oxygen.

“While I was unconscious, his mom called the emergency services and I was put on life support in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.”

Doctors ran urgent tests but were left stumped by the rapid decline of Madelynn’s lungs.

An aggressive fungal infection was quickly attacking her mucous membranes, causing the organs to shut down — but they had no idea why.

Doctors inserted a port-a-cath for fungal treatment but the mold has already spread throughout her body.

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“My parents got a call saying I was on life support — with no idea how or why it happened. They were terrified,” she said.

“I was being kept alive by a machine pumping me full of medicines to try and help my lungs. At first, no one could work out why this was happening to my body.

“Over the next year, I was sent from hospital to hospital in the hopes that someone could figure out what was wrong with me.

“The doctors were stumped. All they knew was that it was a fungal infection, but not why it had happened or why it was so severe.”

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Madelynn was in intensive care on life support before waking up.

Doctors explained that she had pulmonary failure, also known as respiratory failure, a condition in which the lungs can’t oxygenate the blood or remove carbon dioxide.

This was caused by aspergillosis, an infection caused by a type of mold (fungus) that usually affects the respiratory system.

Madelynn underwent eight bronchoscopies — a procedure in which a thin tube that examines the body’s airways — in four years and, once discharged, had to use an oxygen tank, every day, at home.

“I basically had mold everywhere. It was in my lungs, ears and sinuses,” she recalled.

“I lived in hospitals for about a year including being sent to different specialty wards throughout that time.

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“The doctors had to keep going into them to clean off the mold, and I had to walk around with my oxygen tank or my levels would drop really low.

“Having been lying in a hospital bed for so long, I also had physical therapy to strengthen my muscles and I get regular check-ups even now.

“My health was awful because the mold spores would repopulate.

“When I put a Q-tip in my ears, it would come out black, and I coughed up black phlegm for six months.”

At the time of the incident, Madelynn was in her teens.

Four years after that fateful smoke, she finally felt able to breathe again without the assistance of the oxygen tank. 

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During the start of her recovery, her doctors hadn’t linked the joint to the mold attack — simply because no one had mentioned it.

“By the time I woke up from being on life support, I’d forgotten about the smoking, so the doctors didn’t know about it,” she said.

“But during my recovery, one of them asked if I smoked — that’s when it hit me. I remembered the puff and told them about it, and they said it made complete sense.

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“They believe I inhaled fungal spores while smoking the joint, which had both weed and tobacco inside.

“For a while, doctors thought I’d need a lung transplant but thankfully, the mold hadn’t caused widespread damage yet.

“I got really lucky — they say my lungs are better than most people my age now. I will never touch any form of smoke again.”

After lying in a hospital bed for so long and then spending time in recovery — unable to enjoy life the same as most other young women her age — Madelynn took solace in sharing her life on social media.

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Her account soon took off.

After she got the all clear from her doctors aged 20, she also decided to try other careers –— including stripping for a year and working as a cam girl for a week — but in the end, she decided there was more freedom in working for herself.

Her lucrative career as a content creator now sees her earn $2 million a year.

“At first, I used social media as a way to distract myself during recovery — it was just something fun,” she said.

“I also wanted to raise awareness of what I had been through. I never imagined it would turn into a career.”