What started as a routine shopping trip turned into a life-threatening nightmare for 32-year-old Suzanne Manus. The Alabama mother of two was driving home and speaking on a hands-free call with her husband Bobby when disaster struck. “I was just driving down the road talking to my husband and then the next thing you know, there was an explosion. It was my vape,” Suzanne recounted. The rechargeable vape, which had been resting between her thighs, blew up without any warning, permanently scarring her. Bobby, still connected through the car’s Bluetooth, heard what he described as a “boom” followed by his wife’s screams before the line went dead – leaving him to fear the worst for the better side of a minute.
A Race Against Flames
The vape explosion triggered a cascade of dangerous events as Suzanne fought to survive. “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,” she recalled of those terrifying moments. In a desperate bid to save herself, Suzanne managed to pull over on the highway and leap from her vehicle. What followed was a scene that nearby motorists would hardly believe – she was forced to remove her burning trousers at the roadside while watching her Nissan Rogue Sport transform into what she described as “one huge fireball“. The situation was so dire that emergency responders had to rush her first to Flowers Hospital in Dothan, before arranging an airlift to the trauma centre at UAB Hospital in Birmingham.
The Fight for Recovery
The severity of Suzanne’s injuries became apparent at the trauma center. She had suffered extensive burns across her inner thighs, groin, and buttocks, requiring immediate medical intervention. “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 explained of her initial treatment. Her recovery journey included two major surgeries – the first to remove dead tissue, and a second procedure ten days later for skin grafting, where healthy skin from her left thigh was used to repair the burned areas. “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,” she shared, describing the extent of her injuries.
A Warning to Others
After spending a month in the hospital, Suzanne returned home to begin the long process of healing, both physically and emotionally. The incident has left her with lasting scars that will take years to fully settle. “The physical pain was agonizing but the mental and emotional effects have been much worse,” she admitted. Despite being what she described as a former “avid vaper” before the explosion, who also took precautions with battery maintenance, Suzanne now advocates strongly against vaping. “I would like to tell people not to vape. I know people think it’s a better alternative to smoking cigarettes but it is completely not worth it,” she warned, adding, “This could have been my fate. I could not be here if I had got stuck in my car”.
Read More: Vaping Scare: Experts React After 16-Year-Old Hospitalized in Critical Condition