A man is warning others after his e-cigarette 'burst into flames' while in his pocket, leaving him with third degree burns on his leg.
Blayre Turnbull, 26, was in the pub with his dad on August 7 when the device 'exploded'. The barber, from Kilmarnock, said he had to ditch his trousers in front of other punters when his vape burnt a hole in his pocket and scalded the muscles in his leg.
He was rushed to hospital where medics had to clean out battery acid and e-cigarette oil from his wounds.
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Blayre told the Daily Record: “My vape just burst into flames, now I’ve got third degree burns on my leg. The burns are so severe that they’ve scalded right through to my tendons.
“They’ve had to take skin from one thigh to use as a skin graft. I’m scarred for life now. My hand was all blistered up all my fingers except my middle finger and I’ve got three or four huge blisters on my palm.”
Warning - graphic images below
Blayre says he turned the device off after using it outside the venue before he heard a "spark". Smoke then started to come from his trouser pocket.
He said: “I didn’t know what was happening to begin with – I sounded like my vape was ‘sparking up’. I noticed the smoke was coming through my pocket and by the time I put my hand on it, it was on fire. I had to run away and drop my trousers. It wasn’t the best experience at all.”
Blayre bought the device from online vape giant VPZ in September 2020 along with rechargeable batteries. He is convinced the battery exploded.
Blayre was transferred from Crosshouse Hospital to a specialist burns unit in Glasgow at the Royal Infirmary where medics told him his vape burns were one of the worst cases they had seen.
He said: “They said it is quite a common thing that vapes blow up in people’s pockets. They’ve had to perform a skin graft taken from my other thigh, the donor leg will heal up perfectly but the other one is going to scar pretty badly.”
Blayre, who is still recovering from his burns, is warning other users not to put vapes in their pocket. He added: “I’ll never have one in my pocket again and I would definitely urge people not to put them in their pocket, once it's on fire, it is nuts what can happen.”
Vape retailer VPZ confirmed Blayre purchased the vape in September 2020 and said that all their products are regulated and approved by The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
The firm strongly advises that customers use a protective case for external batteries which are provided with all batteries to ensure “they are stored safely and correctly when not in use.”
A spokesperson added: “We provide all of our customers with a battery safety guide to help them use their vaping kit in a responsible way, and recommend that they change external batteries every six months if they are a heavy user and once a year if a light user."
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