http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/488250/Dangers-e-cigs-cigarettes-smoking-giving-up-vaping-health-Kevin-Woodward-ELeaf-Istick
A DAD-of-two cheated death after becoming a human fireball when his e-cigarette battery exploded while he was asleep.
Kevin Woodward, 30, revealed how he felt a “blow torch” was being held to his face when his Eleaf Istick blew up.
Kevin had put the vaping device, manufactured in China, on charge overnight when it caught fire.
He told how the blaze was “like a horror movie”.
And his three-year-old son Taylor James is also lucky to be alive after getting out of the bed just hours earlier.
Despite being in agony, Kevin frantically managed to extinguish the flames with a pillow before escaping the family home.
Recalling the moment the blaze began, Kevin said:”I woke up and the right hand side of my face was on fire.
“It felt like someone was using a blowtorch on me.
“I didn’t have a clue what was happening – it was like a horror movie.
“My son had only got out of the bed to get into his own bed two hours before.
“When I realised what was happening I managed to slam a pillow on top of the fire, opened the windows and got the kids out of the house.”
Kevin, who lives in Northwich, Cheshire, was rushed to hospital and is now recovering at Whiston Hospital in Merseyside.
Docs have warned the scarring and redness will take six months to heal.
But fortunately the scrapyard worker is unlikely to need skin grafts.
Kevin added: “It’s terrifying to think what could have happened if the kids had been in bed as well at the time.
“The paramedics were shocked when they arrived and saw what had gone on.
“My fiancee couldn’t really speak when she saw my injuries – she has just been in tears all the time.”
Fiancee Jenny, 23, added: “I woke up and all I could hear was the sound of flames burning and Kevin screaming.
“The bedroom was thick with smoke.
“When I first saw Kevin’s injuries I was terrified.
“It just wasn’t my Kevin. I didn’t even want to look at him.”
Kevin – who also has a daughter Alexia Jordan, two, with Jenny – turned to e-cigs in a bid to boost his health about a year ago.
He added: “I was watching TV and then I went to bed at about 11pm.
“I had put it on charge the same as every day to keep it charged up.
“I woke up again at about 2.30am because Taylor was wriggling around in bed and that was when he thankfully got out of the bed.
“We are both lucky to be here.”