A terrifying experience left a mother of two with severe burns after her vape exploded while she was behind the wheel. The blast turned her vehicle into a raging inferno, and her husband, who was on the phone with her at the time, feared she had lost her life.
Suzanne Manus, 32, had been heading home from a shopping trip last November while speaking with her husband, Bobby, via Bluetooth. Her vape rested on her lap as she drove, unaware of the danger about to be revealed.
“Out of nowhere, my vape just exploded,” Manus recounted to Kennedy News and Media, as reported. “Since my husband was on speaker, he could hear everything,” she continued. “For about 45 seconds, he thought I had died.
The explosion caused my foot to press down on the gas pedal, making me lose control of the car. I was swerving all over the road. When I glanced down, I realized I was on fire, and at that moment, I thought I wasn’t going to survive.”
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A Desperate Escape
After managing to stop the car, Manus immediately jumped out, frantically pulling off her burning pants on the side of the road. Moments later, her vehicle erupted into flames.
Emergency responders rushed her to a hospital in Dothan, Alabama, before she was airlifted to a trauma center in Birmingham.
Doctors assessed the extent of her injuries, determining that she had suffered severe burns on her genitals, buttocks, and inner thighs due to the vape explosion.
To treat the burns, Manus required skin grafts, which involved transplanting healthy skin from the unaffected areas of her left thighs.
“For the first few days, it felt like my body was still engulfed in flames,” she recalled. “The burning sensation was unbearable, and medical staff had to repeatedly scrape and cleanse my wounds.
When I first saw my legs after surgery, I couldn’t comprehend how they would ever heal. The damage looked horrifying, as if I had been attacked by a zombie.”
The area where the donor skin was taken will carry permanent scars, and Manus explained that the grafts will take approximately two years to fully heal. “Right now, my legs look strange—they’re purple and very noticeable—but they’re gradually recovering,” she said.
A Warning to Others
Despite improvements, her injuries require ongoing care. “Every day, I have to apply lotion and Vaseline to the affected areas four or five times,” Manus explained.
Though the physical suffering was excruciating, she admitted that the emotional and psychological impact of the incident has been even harder to endure.
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Her vaping days are behind her, and she has no desire to be near the devices again. “I don’t vape anymore, and I don’t even want to be around a vape,” she said.
Although she had heard about vape explosions in the past—including a case where a California teen lost fingers in a similar accident—Manus believed she was taking the right precautions, ensuring her device had fresh batteries.
However, she now warns others of the unpredictable danger. “These things really can explode, and when they do, they can turn your whole life upside down,” she said. “If I had been trapped inside my car, I might not be alive today.”