Ops ordeal for Telford man after e-cigarette blast
A Telford man whose e-cigarette allegedly exploded in his face, causing him to lose two teeth, says he had to have four operations and two skin grafts since the ordeal two months ago.
Ryan Bailey, 22, from Brookside, suffered burns to his lips and a hand, plus damage to his teeth, after his Knight Mod e-cig allegedly blew up while he was smoking it at home on January 20.
His carpet was set on fire, he was rushed to hospital and he has had four emergency operations on his left hand, including a skin graft.
Mr Bailey has since spoken out about the incident which left him with agonising injuries, claiming he felt "lucky to still be here".
He said: "The doctors said that if the explosion had not hit my teeth, it would have gone down my throat and killed me."
Speaking about the ordeal, he said: "It suddenly blew up in my mouth.
"There was no warning. My sister was screaming and crying and rang for an ambulance.
"I couldn't feel any pain at first because of the adrenaline so I didn't know how bad it was.
"I put out the fire on the carpet then I looked down at my hand and then in the mirror. I couldn't believe it.
"My face was black where it had blown up and my hand had swollen to twice its size. It was like having had a stick of dynamite explode in my hand."
Earlier this month, he posted a picture of his hand on Facebook alongside the message: "Had my last operation last week and in only a week's recovery my hands starting to look so much better."
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service sent two crews to the house in Brookside when it happened.
West Midlands Ambulance Service also attended and paramedics took the man to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital for treatment on his injuries.
Malcolm Stevenson, of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, said it was the first such incident he was aware of in the county.
The incident followed reports of at least 100 exploding e-cigarettes. It is estimated that more than 2.5 million people in Britain now use them.
