An exploding iPhone 5C sent a Long Island man to hospital with severe burns on his left leg.

Erik Johnson is a Long Island man whose iPhone 5C exploded in his jeans’ pocket and sent him to the burn unit.

Johnson needed to be hospitalized for over the week following the explosion of his iPhone 5C smartphone. His inner thigh suffered second and third degree burns.

Johnson was as at a cousin’s wake in Lindenhurst, NY on Valentine’s Day and had his iPhone 5C in his pocket the whole time. When the man bend over to get his keys, he said he heard a popping sound and immediately after that he felt a burn.

His leg caught on fire and as soon as he realized what was happening he tried his best to get the phone out of his pocket, but he couldn’t do it. He believes that it was probably because his phone had melted his pockets shut and he made the decision to rip off his pants so that he could distance himself from the burning phone. Witnesses claim that they could even smell flesh burning.

Johnson declared:

I just want my leg back to what it was, you know. […] You don’t expect something like this to happen, never. It’s still hard to grasp the concept of this happening.

Johnson’s iPhone is in very bad shape and after careful inspection, it was revealed that the left side of the phone simply blew open as a result of the explosion that still needs to be confirmed. The back of the smartphone is also fused with its metal case.

Mike Della is a personal injury lawyer who is planning to sue Apple on behalf of Johnson. Della gave a statement in which he highlighted the distress the explosion caused his client:

What makes it even worse is that he had to miss his cousin’s wake, his funeral. He couldn’t be there with his family. […] Even if this only happened this one time, that’s one time too many. What if this happened to a child?

This isn’t the first time a smartphone has exploded or caught fire. Another recent case was the one of a girl whose Samsung smartphone caught fire while she was sleeping with it under her pillow. Samsung investigation the incident and concluded that the phone’s battery had been replaced with a non-Samsung one by a third party and that had caused the fire.

Apple is said to be looking into the incident before releasing any statements.

Image Source: KTLA