Free EE charger explodes leaving graduate with serious burns
The power bar set her room on fire
Tom JenkinA fitness fanatic suffered horrific burns when her mobile charger exploded and nearly set her room on fire.
Katy Emslie, 26, woke up to find her portable EE charger had burst into flames.
The graduate from Aberdeen was in bed when she heard a firework noise and looked down to find fire on her floor.
She tweeted: “Thank you EE for the powerbar which exploded, almost burned down our house and left my hand like this.”
Katy’s hand following the incident. Credit: Katy Emslie
She told Newsbeat: “There was soot all over the carpet.
“At that point I was like ‘Oh my god something has exploded’ so I got out of my bed.
“I looked down and there were flames underneath my bed, so I grabbed my bed and lifted it up.”
Katy had plugged her power bar into her laptop to charge when it blew up. She had to put the flames out with her hands to stop them spreading.
Katy, 26, graduating. Credit: Katy Emslie
She added: “I was screaming for my mum to come through at this point and trying to get the flames out with my hands.
“I panicked because there was actual flames as opposed to embers. I was terrified because I thought it was going to either burn through the floor or catch fire onto the bed.
“My mum grabbed a wet towel and put the flames out but there was still bits of power bar behind my bed when we checked it the next day.
“My hands smelt of firework, my clothes smelt of firework, my hair smelt of firework. My pillow has black soot on it, so it obviously went past my pillow and missed my head by about six inches. It could have landed on my bed and I might not even be here.”
Katy spent five hours in hospital seeking treatment for her burns. Her hands are now so injured she cannot complete her Tough Mudder challenge on the weekend.
Her bedroom following the incident. Credit: Katy Emslie
Katy said: “I’ve had my hands redressed today and had them deroofed which is what they call it when they open up all the blisters and cut away the dead skin and let the fluid drain.”
The blue and yellow power bars are given free to EE, Orange and T-Mobile customers to charge phones without a plug socket and on the move.
The charger after the explosion
But following the shocking incident, the signal provider have promised an immediate and full investigation immediately.
An EE spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to hear about Ms. Emslie’s experience. All of our products undergo stringent safety tests. We’re in touch with the customer and are investigating as a matter of urgency.”