A 24-year-old man died last week in Texas when a vape pen exploded, cutting through his carotid artery and covering his grandmother’s car with blood.
William Brown died after his left carotid artery was severed due to trauma from the explosion. He had just purchased the e-cigarette from Smoke and Vape DZ, a B&M vape shop in a town just north of Fort Worth.
“He popped it and it exploded, and that’s when it shot across his mouth,” Alice Brown told WFAA.
She continued on, stating that the device’s battery malfunctioned, launching debris into her grandson’s face and neck, leaving her car drenched in blood. The heat from the explosion also melted plastic in her car. Brown eventually died two days later at John Peter Smith hospital.
“When they X-rayed him, they found the stem, the metal embedded to where the blood flows up to the brain,” Brown continued. “I miss him already, and knowing he won’t open that door and come through it ever again is the hardest part.”
William Brown, a licensed electrician, had purchased the device on January 27th. He had bought the vape pen because he believed it would help his asthma.
After the explosion, he managed to crawl out of the car and collapsed on the pavement. A witness called 911, and an ambulance took him to the hospital. A medical examiner later determined that the cause of death was penetrating trauma from an exploding vaporizer pen.
There have been many vaporizer explosions in the past few years. Unfortunately, most of them can be attributed to user error. It’s too early to determine what caused the explosion in this case. It’s possible that it could have been a manufacturer error. Until we know the exact model that he bought, we can’t determine what caused this explosion. We recommend that you follow some important safety precautions when vaping, especially if you’re using a mechanical mod. It’s especially important to be careful with loose 18650 batteries, which can catch fire if you place them in your pocket with other metal objects.
