Knock-Off iPhone Charger Explodes, Victim Ends Up With Electrical Burns

Exploding iPhones as well as phone chargers are nothing new, and there has been alleged reports of people getting killed by it along the way. We always maintain that one should make use of authorized and original parts only, chargers included, even though you might save a fair bit of money by purchasing third party or knock-off chargers, as this particular Minnesota resident found out. Tim Tyrrell was shopping for a second charger for his iPhone, and settled on a $10 eBay offer that came with a couple of wall chargers and a car charger, instead of forking out $25 to $30 for an original from Apple. This knock-off plug exploded, resulting in Tyrrell experiencing a serious electrical burn that was the size of a quarter on his hand.

To make matters worse, the wound ended up infected, and it proved to be the proverbial “perfect storm” as it combined with Tyrrell’s diabetes, landing him in the hospital for over a week, while having to undergo a quartet of operations on his hand. Imagine having been able to avoid this by using the original charger.

The English have a saying, penny wise, pound foolish, and it so applies this time around. It pays to use original parts folks, and this would also apply to the spare parts that your vehicle uses.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: charger, iPhone