iPhone Battery Explodes, Injuring Teen With Burns

A 15-year-old boy suffered burns to his chest after his iPhone’s battery exploded at his home in Brisbane, Australia, on Sunday.

Paramedics were called to the boy's house Sunday and he was rushed to a local hospital for emergency treatment. He was listed stable and discharged the same night. Jay Watson said the explosion took place while he was playing with his iPhone 6 battery Sunday. Watson said the battery exploded after he bent it.

"It was an initial yellow explosion and then flames came from that,” he said, 9News reported.

Watson, who was not wearing a shirt at the time of the incident, said the acid from the battery fell on his chest, burning him. However, it should be noted that lithium-ion batteries used in handheld devices do not contain acid, and hence, the substance that burnt Watson was some other corrosive chemical.

Watson said he was thankful that he suffered only superficial burns.

"They (doctors) said that if the explosion happened in my eyes or acid dripped on my eyes, I most likely would've been blinded," he said.

Kari Lashbrook, the boy’s mother, said she heard her son screaming and immediately called the emergency personnel.

"There were some sections where the battery had like spurted some form of acid or something, you could see they were really quite deep," she said, adding, “I was so worried."

Lashbrook said she did not anticipate “anything like that would happen.” She added that she was thankful her son’s eyesight was intact and that he did not suffer major burns.

“He could have lost his eyesight if splats of acid had actually hit his eyes as opposed to his chest,” she said, Yahoo 7 reported.

Angeo Kollbrunner, from Battery World, one of Australia’s leading battery sales company, said, batteries were “absolutely safe” if handled with care. “When you manipulate any lithium-ion battery, they’re highly dangerous,” he said.

Watson said he has learned his lesson.

“Curiosity killed the cat, curiosity actually burned me,” he said, adding, "Would've been smarter to Google, I thought about that in the ambulance ride after.”

The incident comes a few months after an Ohio man suffered significant burns to his skin after his iPhone XS Max caught fire and exploded in his pants pocket. Josh Hillard said he sensed a strange smell coming from his pocket while having lunch. He suddenly felt a “large amount of heat” and noticed “green and yellow smoke” coming from his phone. The man said he was exploring legal options against the company after it refused to repair the device for free.