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26-year-old Jesse Milk never expected that his e-cig would pose such a huge threat to his life.
Milk had just started using his e-cig in his bedroom when the device suddenly exploded in a noise that sounded like a gunshot. The end outside his mouth ricocheted off his computer before landing on his bed, beginning a fire.
The tip that had been in his mouth shot toward his throat. It shattered three teeth in the process – but this is what ultimately kept the piece from traveling down Milk’s throat and choking him to death. The piece, however, had embedded itself into Milk’s tongue.
Milk’s mother immediately took him to the hospital, where doctors admitted him to emergency surgery to remove the lodged e-cig piece from his tongue, as well as repair his tongue and burned lips.
Alongside the damage caused by the e-cig’s breaking, Milk also sustained second-degree burns all around his lips and mouth.
A week after the injury, Milk still remained in the hospital to recover from his burns – and learn to regain his speech. His injuries had kept him from speaking for the first six days following the accident.
When the explosion happened, Milk’s e-cig had been near the end of its battery life, which is what investigators suspect to be the culprit of the incident.
Even though he’s in stable condition now, Milk admits that the experience has scarred him. He doesn’t ever want to use another e-cig again in his life. “I don’t even want to see it; it’s scary.”
You can watch the original news footage here:
