The four-inch vape pen pierced his shoes and foot, leaving him in terrible pain
The growing use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping devices, has become a cause of great concern globally. While it causes several health risks, an incident in the UK has also shed light on how discarding e-cigarettes properly is extremely important. According to a New York Post, a UK teen was told he might lose his foot after it was impaled by an e-cigarette that he'd stomped on.
13-year-old Harley Bennett was out with his friends in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, when he discovered the used Elfbar pen on the floor in a subway in October. The youth, along with his friends, decided to destroy it for fun. He stood up the e-cigarette vertically on the ground and attempted to crush it like "a Coke can." However, the stunt went miserably wrong as the four-inch vape pen pierced his thick-soled trainer shoes, socks, and foot, leaving him in terrible pain.
Soon after, his mother got a call from one of Harley's friends, and she rushed him to an emergency ward at Gloucester Royal Hospital. The teenager was forced to have a two-hour operation on his foot, followed by skin graft surgery the next day. Doctors even said there is a high possibility that Harley could lose his foot from infection. The teen's mom said that the whole experience was terrifying and that doctors had never seen anything like it.
"I wasn't thinking, I don't know how to explain it. I just stamped on it and it just went straight into my foot. It was very painful. The recovery process was very stressful. The moment when the doctor told me I could lose my foot was very, very stressful. The pain is much better now," the boy told Metro.co.uk.
After nine weeks of hospital visits and regular changing of bandages, Harley is now well on his way to recovery. After the traumatic incident, his family is now trying to raise awareness of the importance of disposing of vape pens correctly.
A spokesperson from Elfbar said they were 'very sad' to hear of Harley's injury and said they 'call for people to dispose of their vapes properly after finished using'.
They said: "As a manufacturer, we pay much attention to protecting our environment by cooperating with our retailers, recycling departments, and authorities. "Environmental responsibility is our top priority right now and we are in advanced discussions with one of the producer compliance scheme providers regarding the collection and sustainable disposal of our products across the UK,'' they added.