Suzanne Manus, from Alabama, US, was driving back home after a shopping trip when her rechargeable vape, resting between her legs, blew up last November.
The 32-year-old said her legs were set on fire and she was forced to pull over on the highway and jump out of the vehicle to remove her trousers.
Suzanne Manus, 32, said her vape blew up in her car while driving on the freeway (Kennedy News and Media)
The mum-of-two suffered extensive burns on her inner thighs, the top of her private parts and bottom, and underwent two surgeries to heal her wounds.
“I was on the way home from shopping and I was in the car on my own and on hands-free to my husband,” Suzanne explained.
The vape user was rushed to hospital after her ‘car was just one huge fireball on the side of the road’ (Kennedy News and Media)
“I was just driving down the road talking to my husband and then the next thing you know, my vape just exploded.
“It was in my lap and it exploded and I had an immediate reaction.
“The explosion scared me and my husband could hear me as he was on Bluetooth in my car.
“What he heard was the ‘boom’ of the explosion and me screaming and saying I was on fire and then everything went quiet. He thought I was dead for about 45 seconds.”
The remains of her car (Kennedy News and Media)
She continued: “Immediately, my foot pressed the accelerator. I was swerving all over the road. I looked down and saw I was on fire and in that moment I thought I was going to die.
“I had to take my pants off on the side of the highway. I called my husband back and I was crying.
“By the time I was in the ambulance my car was just one huge fireball on the side of the road.”
Suzanne, who previously smoked for seven years, spent a month in hospital recovering and now has to put lotion and Vaseline on the damaged areas ‘four or five times a day’ at home.
Although her wounds are healing well, she is still struggling with the trauma of the fire.
She said most of her wounds are healing (Kennedy News and Media)
“For the first couple of days, it felt like I was still on fire. I was burning and they had to scrape and clean my skin,” Suzanne added.
“I was really close to losing my leg, thankfully this did not happen.
“It was a little bit in my private area but nothing that required surgery there. It was on either side of my inner thighs and reached all the way back halfway up my butt.
“When I looked at my legs after the first surgery, I couldn’t see how they could get better.
“It looked so bad and it looked like a zombie had attacked me in these areas.
“I thought I’d be left scarred for life at this point as I didn’t know what to expect after my next surgery.”
Her friend has set up a GoFundMe page to help with her recovery – if you wish to donate, you can do so here.
