Waiting for a bus to go to his home in Karşıyaka Neighborhood at the bus stop on Atatürk Street in Küçükminare Neighborhood, 17-year-old Buğra Türkseven wanted to smoke the electronic cigarette he had with him. The electronic cigarette exploded in Türkseven’s hand. The electronic cigarette that caught fire was extinguished with the intervention of citizens in the area. Türkseven, who was taken to the hospital by health teams, is still receiving treatment.
THERE WERE 1ST AND 2ND DEGREE BURNS
Numune Hospital General Surgery Specialist Op. Dr. Gündüz Akgöl said that the patient applied to the emergency room with burns on his face and body. Akgöl, who stated that the patient said that the electronic cigarette exploded when he held it with both hands and put it in his mouth, said, “After the first intervention in the emergency room, we took the patient to the burn unit. Our patient has first degree burns on his face and second degree burns on both hands. We are currently on the third day of his treatment. His general condition is good, his treatments will continue for a while. Our patient is currently in stable condition and is receiving his treatments.”
“PEOPLE THINK IT’S NOT HARMFUL”
Akgöl, who drew attention to the widespread use of electronic cigarettes recently, said, “Unfortunately, our people do not think that it is harmful. We do not yet know what kind of problems the chemicals in it will cause in the future. However, the incident we encountered showed that such situations are related to the battery inside, we think that the explosion is due to the heating of the battery and negligence. This is a very serious situation, especially when the electronic cigarette is held close to the face, explosions in that area can have serious consequences. Examples of this have been seen before. A patient lost his life in America. A patient in Konya lost his vision. Thank God, such a situation did not happen in our patient. Our advice to all our citizens is to keep such situations at the back of their minds and never use this electronic cigarette.”
“NO ONE SHOULD USE IT, NO ONE SHOULD DRINK IT”
The unfortunate young man Buğra Türkseven warned citizens by saying, “When I put the cigarette in my mouth, it exploded in my hand, burned my arm, and there are burns on my face and body. We couldn’t put it out when we tried to. It keeps increasing and getting deeper. I don’t recommend e-cigarettes to anyone. Nobody should use them, and nobody should smoke them.”
Grandmother Semiha Türkseven said, “What would have happened if my child had lost both eyes? There will be many more like this, these cigarettes should be banned and confiscated.” (AA)