The Bronx teenager who became the first person in New York to die of a vaping-related illness in October was identified on Wednesday as a Catholic school student who had just graduated.
Denis Byrne, Jr., 17, of Throgs Neck died Oct. 4 at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx of a lung injury caused by e-cigarette use, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
“Following a thorough medical investigation by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, we have determined that the decedent died from complications from the usage of electronic vaping products,” said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson in a statement.
Byrne was a student at the private all-boys Salesian High School in New Rochelle and a member of the class of 2019, according to a post on the school’s Facebook page.
“Denis was a great student,” commented Thomas Joseph, a teacher at the school. “He was always one to give the class a good laugh. He came on a few Midnight Runs with the students and I as we fed the homeless in NYC. I pray for him and his family. May you Rest In Peace buddy.”
Another person commented: “Denis was a unique individual with a great sense of humor.”
“I always enjoyed the give and take repartee we had in the classroom,” wrote Paul G Court. “He was no angel but he was always a gentleman… A solid guy of character and personal responsibility.”
“It’s a tragedy he was taken from us before he could fulfill his true potential.”
Officials didn’t say whether the teen had been sickened by tobacco or marijuana products, or a combination. Sources told The Post at the time that he had been using vaping cartridges containing THC, which is the key ingredient that causes the high in marijuana.
A second New Yorker, a man in his 30s, died Nov. 9 at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan from a vaping-related injury, officials announced last month.
At least 121 people across the Empire state have been sickened by vape products, according to the most recent statistics from the state Department of Health.
That’s a fraction of the more than 2,400 cases the Centers for Disease Control has identified nationwide. More than 50 people had died across 26 states and DC in the widespread outbreak as of Dec. 10, the CDC said.