A 24-year-old Texas man died last month after the electronic vaporiser pen he was using exploded, according to a medical examiner’s report.
Fort Worth local William Brown was sitting in a car outside a vape store on January 27 when the device he was using combusted, sending shrapnel into his face and neck.
Brown’s grandmother Alice Brown told the Star-Telegram that he was able to leave the vehicle but collapsed near the rear of the car. She said a witness called an ambulance.
The young electrician died in hospital two days later. A new report from the Tarrant County medical examiner lists the cause of Brown’s death as a stroke, which occurred after damage to his corotid artery from “penetrating trauma from exploding vaporizer pen.”
Brown’s family said doctors at John Peter Smith Hospital found a piece of the device was found was embedded in his neck, but did not operate on him before his death. A spokesperson for the hospital told The Washington Post a review of their response is underway.
The Washington Post also reports images from inside the vehicle show a plastic cup-holder was melted by the vape pen’s battery. Alice Brown said investigators had recovered the battery’s serial number from debris found inside the car.
The exact make and model of the vape in question has not been confirmed, however CBS 11 reports Brown had sought assistance at the store to use a mechanical mod-style vape pen.
Brown is thought to be the second person in the United States to have died as the direct result of a malfunctioning vape pen. Last year, Florida medical examiners reported Tallmadge D’Elia died after sustaining a wound to the head caused by a similar incident.
