Lorry driver's hand bursts into flames as exploding e-cigarette sticks to skin
A lorry driver suffered horrific injuries when his e-cigarette exploded in his hand as he was changing the battery.
The explosion set Mike Calver's hand, beard and clothes on fire, with the scalding e-cigarette sticking to his hand. A video shows the 38 year old from Stoke on Trent running outside to put out the flames. His wife, Leanne Calver, 29, rushed him to A&E where plastic surgeons treated him.
Mike is now recovering but still bears scars from the incident that occurred on October 29. He wants people to be aware of the dangers of e-cigarettes. He said: "I bought a new set of batteries on Amazon, and I had loaded them into the e-cig. As I clicked the battery it exploded. I was engulfed in flames - my hand, beard, and clothes were on fire. I managed to douse the flames pretty quickly. One of the batteries that exploded stuck to my hands and started to melt into my hand."
Mike Calver needed plastic surgery (Mike Calver / SWNS)
The vape exploded in his hands (Mike Calver / SWNS)Leanne, a senior administrator, said: "I was terrified. In the moment I had no idea if Mike's hand or fingers had been blown off. And at the same time there was a fireball in the kitchen. The house was filling rapidly with black smoke and I needed to get Mike to the hospital as soon as possible. But I was so concerned about getting back to the house and the dogs, who were terrified as well."
Mike, who purchased the e-cigarette and batteries from Amazon in September, was setting it up last month when the battery exploded. His partner Leanne rushed into the kitchen to find him amidst a smoke-filled room.
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Mike said: "The house quickly filled with smoke - it was not a nice experience. Leanne was in the front room and heard the bang so she jumped up and came into the kitchen. I had thrown the e-cig across the room while it was still on fire and it had set fire to the floor. Leanne managed to put out the fire and started to freak out when she started to see how black my hand was."
Mike was rushed to the Royal Stoke University Hospital where he spent hours with his hand submerged in a cold bucket of water. He described the pain as bearable only when his hand was in the water, but between refills, he experienced excruciating pain. The plastic surgery team at the hospital performed a procedure to remove the burnt skin, which Mike described as "horrendous".
He was rushed to hospital (Mike Calver / SWNS)
His hand was engulfed in flames (Mike Calver / SWNS)He said: "They gave me a lot of morphine but the process itself was horrendous. They had to burst all the blisters and cut all the skin away from my hand. I was in A&E for six hours and left at 3am the following morning. They bandaged my hand up and sent me on my way. Living with what I am living with at the moment is not great."
Mike, who is currently on statutory sick pay while his hand heals, wants to raise awareness about how quickly accidents like this can occur. He shared: "The next morning was when it all sank in, it was a harrowing experience. I was very lucky that it wasn't on my face and it was just me and my wife in the house."
"I am doing ok now, I have had three plastic surgery consultations and they have taken most of the bandages off. My palm is exposed at the minute and will heal itself - thankfully I don't need a skin graft."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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