A dad has experienced 'excruciating' third degree burns on most of his leg, following claims his vape 'exploded' in his pocket, and set his trousers alight.
When Anthony Lewis was on the phone outside his workplace on Tuesday 31st May, the rechargeable vape's battery began 'hissing' ominously,
Then, his left leg was set on fire.
The flames tore through his pocket, and the device fell down his trouser leg, 'scorching' his flesh and burning through the layers of his skin, to the muscle on its way down.
The 40-year-old took himself and his 'terrified' nine-year-old daughter to the hospital.
He underwent several procedures to remove to dead skin, and make sure the 'gruesome' wound could heal - and recalled that the explosion was more painful than being struck by lightning.
He added that he felt lucky to have survived the ordeal.
The cosmetologist now vows to quit vaping and hopes to warn people about the risks associated with rechargeable vapes and their batteries.
The battery distributor Hohm Tech said that all of their batteries clearly outline risks if 'mishandled' and specifically state that putting them in pockets can lead to short-circuiting and 'explosion'.
The company said they were saddened to learn of Anthony's injuries and urged all users of lithium-ion batteries to 'abide product warnings'.
Anthony, from Tampa, Florida, US, said: "I had it turned off in my pocket and I was working at my salon. I got a phone call so I stepped outside to take the call.
"Then in the middle of my phone call I felt something get hot on my leg and before I could react to it, it started shooting sparks out of my leg - kind of like a roman candle.
"It started hissing and burst into flames and caught my pants on fire.
"So I obviously tried to pat out the fire on my legs but the battery kind of turned into a chemical blow-torch and burned its way through the metal casing on the vape.
"It burned through my pocket and then just scorched my leg on the way down as it fell to my ankle. Then it burned a whole through my pants near my ankle and fell out.
"But by then it was already too late - my leg was already up in flames and the vape itself then followed it down and fell out too, destroying my leg as it went down.
"I've been through a lot of things in my life - I've been struck by lightning once and that wasn't fun, car accidents and different injuries - but that by far is the worst pain I've felt.
"You kind of feel like you're dying without being dead. It's been a very traumatising event."
The dad of one has been vaping on and off for almost five years, going through periods of using a vape daily.
The day of the accident he was working at his hair salon when he stepped outside to take a phone call, with his Smok G-Priv vape switched off in his jeans pocket.
When the device suddenly exploded he was forced to pat the flames on his jeans out before rushing back inside to change his charred pants - finding that the device had burned 'holes' into his leg.
He says his nine-year-old daughter Hadley Lewis - who was at the salon with him on her break from school - watched on in horror as he passed through the room with his pants smoking.
Anthony said: "It wasn't until I got my pants off and looked at what was happening, that all of a sudden I could feel the sides of the burn where the skin was still kind of fresh.
"That's when the pain started to set in and it was excruciating.
"I put my gym pants on and told my client that I was very sorry but someone else would have to finish her hair and got my daughter and drove to the hospital.
"She was in a full panic the whole time. It was heart-wrenching seeing her scared to death for me and the look of terror on her face."
The dad drove himself, along with his young daughter, to Brandon Regional Hospital where he was immediately admitted to the burns unit.
There doctors revealed he had suffered third degree burns over the majority of his thigh and part of his lower leg, as well as further first degree burns surrounding the worst areas.
He then spent a week there recovering, during which time he underwent a debridement surgery two days after arriving to remove the dead, burnt skin.
The following day, he also underwent a skin graft to replace the burnt skin with cadaver skin.
Doctors have advised that Anthony will need another two to three skin graft procedures over the next six months to allow his leg to fully heal.
The dad will be left with permanent scarring on the majority of his leg but says he feels lucky it didn't turn out worse.
He now hopes to warn fellow vapers about the risk of the devices exploding and urges people not to keep them in their pockets.
Anthony said: "I don't think a lot of people are aware of how potentially dangerous these batteries are.
"There are some people out there that use the vape mods that are really powerful and have a much bigger battery pack.
"Mine was a little bit over the size of an AA battery and if that could cause such damage I don't even want to know what the vapes with the bigger battery packs are capable of.
"That could be like a bomb in somebody's pocket."
Vape manufacturer Smok were contacted for comment repeatedly but failed to respond.
Hohm Tech International, based in Hong Kong and Indonedia, were contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for Hohm Tech said: "Li-ion [lithium-ion] batteries, which include Hohm Tech Li-ion batteries, have inherent risks if misused or mishandled.
"Hohm Tech batteries clearly outline this on the battery, packaging, and all Hohm Tech sourced publications in physical and digital form. Li-ion batteries can vent and/or explode if the battery is short-circuited.
"The warnings provided by Hohm Tech are explicit in nature and inform consumers how to ensure they do not short-circuit a battery. Specifically, putting a battery in a pocket whether the battery is in or out of a device.
"One may think it is safe to put a battery in a pocket no matter if the battery is in or out of a device (or a battery case).
"Fact is that pockets accelerated wear and put batteries in an unsafe environment. How so you may ask?
"Pockets put batteries through repeated and jarring movements that rub and put wear on the protective label barrier on the battery.
"Additionally, there are keys/coins/objects and/or debris in pockets that further accelerate the wear to the label barrier. Furthermore, debris in pockets can get inside crevices of the battery or get inside a non-dust proof device.
"This in turn can cause a device to malfunction, or worse, cause it to create a short-circuit environment to a Li-ion battery. As Li-ion batteries have inherent risks if and/or when misused or mishandled, it is critically important the warnings are abided by.
"Hohm Tech warnings are above and beyond what other Li-ion battery companies share with consumers."
