Exploding E-Cigarette Lands Colorado Man in the Hospital

Colorado resident Cordero Caples was admitted to the hospital after reports state an e-cigarette exploded in his mouth and ultimately broke his neck, and left him in critical condition.

The electronic cigarette, which only produces vapors instead of the actual smoke from real cigarettes containing nicotene, is supposed to be a little more safe than a real cigarette. Caples, a 29-year-old college student, probably does not agree after going outside, while at work on his lunch break to smoke the e-cigarette, only to have the device explode in his mouth, as reported by Rolling Out. According to the site's report, the explosion left him critically injured by knocking out his teeth, burning his mouth and breaking his neck. Caples was rushed to a Colorado Springs hospital where he underwent spinal reconstruction surgery.

The electronic device is battery operated and has, in some cases, caused bodily harm after the battery explodes. According to Rolling Out, a 2014 government report stated that this is not the first reported incident of this nature. The government report explained what happens when the device malfunctions as it did in Caples' case. "[It} occurs suddenly and is accompanied by a loud noise, a flash of light, smoke, flames, and often vigorous ejection of the battery and other parts."

For now, Caples, father to a 1-year-old child, is recovering with family, although his sister says he may never be able to walk again, according to Huffington Post. The Colorado man will have continuous visits to the hospital and medical bills are expected to pile up. His family has started a Go Fund Me account for Caples to hopefully alleviate some of the pressure of their growing medical bills.

Caples underwent his first surgery on Sunday, Nov. 22, and his condition was upgraded to "fair." However, the family says he had such high hopes to become a fitness instructor, and that will probably never happen now.

"He's really, really into fitness, and he's really good at it," his sister stated in an interview with Fox 13. "That's what he was in school to do, but with an injury like this, it puts those things in question. I'm just hopeful he can make a speedy recovery and a full recovery."

Here is a video of another case of an exploding e-cigarette.