A California construction worker underwent two skin graft surgeries after his e-cigarette’s spare battery exploded in his pocket last month, resulting in third-degree burns, Sputnik International reports.
Jason Clar, 42, who spoke about the incident to ABC7, revealed that he is currently in constant pain, even after undergoing multiple surgeries. He is also unsure when he will be able return to work. Clar was wearing heavy construction pants at the time of the incident.
"The damage was done, and all the skin on the back of my leg was missing, so I went to the emergency room as fast as I could," Clar said.
And this is just one of many similar incidents. In February, a 24-year-old man from Fort Worth, Texas, died after a vape pen he'd recently purchased exploded in his face and severed his left carotid artery, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office.
Last year in May, 38-year-old Florida resident Tallmadge D'Elia was killed after his e-cigarette exploded and lodged projectiles into his skull. D'Elia also suffered burns to roughly 80 percent of his body, Sputnik previously reported.
A July 2017 report from the US Fire Administration, a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also concluded that "e-cigarettes using lithium-ion batteries present a new and unique hazard to consumers."