Jackie Fedro recently bought her 13-year-old daughter, Gabbie, a cell phone in order to stay in touch with the busy teen. She never expected that within one week of using it, her daughter would be seriously hurt by the device!
Fedro told BuzzFeed that Gabbie was on the phone when she felt an electric shock go around her neck. The teen said she was using the phone while it was plugged into a wall charger when she felt shocked by an electric current that traveled around her metal necklace and burned her neck.
A Mom Says Her 13-Year-Old Is Scarred After Getting Second-Degree Burns From Her Cell Phone https://t.co/tmy9Sbz1WD pic.twitter.com/vCrgPqZd6z
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) February 22, 2016
Fedro said she heard her daughter screaming. “She came running downstairs after it [happened] grabbing her neck…” the mom told BuzzFeed. “It’s the worst feeling in the world as a mother to watch your child scream in pain and have no idea how to help her. It took her a good five minutes before she was even able to tell us what had happened.”
Gabbie suffered second-degree burns and has a scar around her neck from the electrocution.
Although Gabbie’s story is viewed by many as a “freak accident”, accidents with cell phones are on the rise because the lithium powered devices are prone to overheating. If the batteries or chargers overheat, they can cause burns, shocks, fires and even explosions.
Safety experts say that the risks increase if people use knock-off generic rechargers as many of them are made with sub-standard partsthat can cause fires and other safety hazards. Mobile phones can also overheat if they are left on soft surfaces (such as pillows and beds) that do not provide enough ventilation.
However, Fedro’s daughter’s phone and accessories were all brand new. The family contacted the company they bought the phone from about the incident and the company has sent the Fedro family a new cell phone and offered to pay for all medical costs incurred from Gabbie’s accident.
Fedro is sharing the very traumatic incident to hopefully prevent this accident from happening to anyone else.
Share this cautionary story with your friends and family!
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