A Texas man was killed after the e-cigarette he was using exploded in his face. 24-year-old William Eric Brown went into a smoke shop in a town just north of Fort Worth because he was having issues with his Mechanical Mod style vape pen. The manager of Smoke and Vape DZ told KTVT that they do not carry that brand because it has known issues and that Brown left the store without buying anything.
When Brown went back to his car, the pen blew up, sending metal pieces flying across his face and damaging the interior of the vehicle. The manager of the store saw Brown struggling for help in the parking lot and called 911. One of the pieces severed his carotid artery while another piece became lodged in his throat.
“That went across his lip, apparently somehow, and cut his lip,” said Brown’s grandmother, Alice. “That three-piece thing went into his throat and stayed there, and that’s what (doctors) should have taken out as soon as they got to the hospital, and they decided to wait until Monday or Tuesday.”
Brown was rushed to the hospital where he died a couple of days later.
An investigator told Mrs. Brown that they believe a faulty battery was responsible for the explosion.
“It just hurts so bad,” she told the Star-Telegram. “Now he’ll never see that birthday. It’s a waste of the thing he could have accomplished.”