Marcus Forzani, a high school senior from Castle Rock, Colorado, was leaving class when the vape pen in his pocket exploded, causing severe third degree burns on his leg.
“It literally looked like someone was welding in my pocket,” he said of the incident, which he now hopes will cause teens to think twice before using similar devices, like vape pens and electronic cigarettes.
Marcus’s injury is far from uncommon, according to plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Tanya Oswald.
“In the past six months, we've seen an increase in the number of burn patients as well as dramatic injury patients in relation to electronic cigarettes and battery-operated vapor devices,” she told reporters at KDVR. And while the U.S. Fire Administration warned in 2014 that “the shape and construction of e-cigarettes can make them more likely than other products with lithium-ion batteries to behave like 'flaming rockets' when a battery fails,” the electronic smoking device's users have increased, with e-cigarettes surpassing traditional cigarette sales in the same year the U.S. Fire Administration presented their report on their danger.
Marcus hopes his accident helps others realize that the nature of e-cigarettes brings its own risk, and he has been pleased to see his friends and classmates steer away from vape pens. His father agrees, and is proud to see Marcus’s friends vow to end their own vape usage. “You see these kids and you're going, there’s a ticking time bomb. Is that one going to blow up? Is that one going to catch this kid on fire? You don't know,” he said. “The world is a better place without cigarettes and vapes.”
“It’s amazing the reflection he has had on his peers,” he told BuzzFeed “No kid should have to go through this…unfortunately my son is the messenger in this situation.”
With little known about whether e-cigarettes have any real benefits versus the real thing, Marcus and his friends definitely have the right idea.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About E-Cigarettes
Check out Teen Vogue’s February issue cover star, Zoë Kravitz.