WATCH: (Scroll Down For Video) A 21-year-old Florida man has been placed in a medically induced coma after an e-cigarette exploded in his face.
Evan Spahlinger is in critical condition after the explosion at his Naples home on Monday.
Spahlinger’s sister Ema Richardson was laying in bed with her 2-year-old child when she heard the blast, and started smelling smoke.
She discovered Spahlinger covered in soot on his bedroom floor.
‘I found my brother not breathing, with his whole face burned and his neck burned and trying to throw up a little or maybe he was gasping for air,’ she told WINK news.
Richardson said Spahlinger suffered internal and external burns as well as damage to his lungs from the explosion and possibly the e-cigarette’s mouthpiece.
‘The mouthpiece went, when the cigarette exploded, it went down his throat and exploded again,’ she said.
Spahlinger was flown to a Miami hospital and on Tuesday underwent cosmetic surgery, according to NBC 6 South Florida.
The explosion is being investigated by North Collier Fire & Rescue. They believe it was caused by the e-cigarette’s lithium battery.
Spahlinger’s family said they do not know what brand of e-cigarette he was using at the time of the explosion.
Richardson said her brother, who was placed in the medically induced coma to help with the pain, told her he would never smoke an e-cigarette again.
‘He said “I’m done, that’s it,'” she said. ‘That’s the only thing he said.’
