Dad’s leg explodes into fireball outside B&M after ‘timebomb’ in pocket

A man has revealed how a trip to B&M ended in a horrific accident when his e-cigarette battery burst into flames in his pocket.

Robert Kane, 37, likened the excruciating ordeal to ‘having his leg placed in an oven’ as the corrosive acid seared through his flesh.

He is now sounding the alarm for vaping enthusiasts, cautioning that they might be ‘potentially carrying a ticking time bomb in their pocket’, with graphic photos laying bare the extent of his horrific burns.

Mr Kane, who had turned to vaping as a healthier choice on the advice of health campaigns, was out shopping with his daughter when his trousers suddenly ‘began fizzing and sparking like a firework’ outside a B&M store in Baguley, Wythenshawe.

He told Liverpool Echo: “People need to know how dangerous e-cigarettes are. It all happened in a flash. The pain was incredible – like my leg had been put in an oven. I went to a vape shop as e-cigs were supposed to be healthier, but instead they scarred me for life and I’m back on the cigs instead.”

He added: “Now I tell anyone vaping is not worth it. They are potentially walking around with a ticking time bomb in their pocket. I got third degree burns in seconds from a battery and have the scars to prove it.”

Having switched to e-cigarettes in April 2019 following official guidance promoting them as a safer smoking alternative, Mr Kane claimed he received no safety briefing on how to properly store his e-cigarette or its batteries. His subsequent lawsuit against the vape shop where he bought the device resulted in a payout exceeding £20,000.

Recounting the terrifying ordeal, he detailed: “It was the same sound as when you first light a firework. And then I had this incredible burning pain on my leg. I saw some smoke so I pulled down my jeans and pants to my knees, but then realised I was naked. So, I pulled up my pants quickly and then there was some sparks and a second bang.”

He collected the charred remains of the battery from the floor following the blast. His sister sped him off to Wythenshawe hospital, where he was promptly treated with a warm water shower to wash away the corrosive liquid from his leg.

Reliving the moment with hospital professionals, Mr Kane, an engineering technician by trade, recounted them describing the burn through three skin layers as one of the worst they had seen. He said: “It was horrific, like I had been in a fireball. The nurses were peeling off my skin. It had burnt so deep you could see my muscle. It was 11 out of 10 pain – indescribable.”

During his prolonged 12-day recovery in the specialist burns unit, Mr Kane was given morphine and antibiotics and lived with the worry over whether extensive surgery would be on the cards.

He said: “I didn’t want to have two disfigured legs, so I said no to a skin graft. Every few days they removed all the dead skin and peeled it off and it looked horrible like a snake shedding its skin. I thought it would never get better.

“That was one of the hardest things, having to learn to walk again along with the constant pain in my leg, which felt like it was constantly on fire.”

Following a half-year recovery period and an 18-month hiatus from sunbathing and foreign trips due to the danger of UV rays, he now has stark advice for those using external battery-powered e-cigarettes.

He said: “Don’t do it, never keep batteries in your pocket, and if you have them in a bag keep them in a carry case as they could blow up at anytime.”

Catherine Citron, a personal injury specialist from Sharston’s Express Solicitors, who won him compensation, said: “Robert was trying to be healthier by not smoking tobacco and now has been left with a badly scarred leg for life.

“His injuries were horrific and not what you expect to happen from a shop-bought e-cigarette battery. Any premises selling e-cigarettes or vapes need to give appropriate safety advice.”