I swapped smoking for ‘healthier’ vaping but was left ‘clinically dead’ after puffing on my first ever e-cig
A WOMAN who began smoking at the age of eight was left with horrific third-degree burns across more than half of her body when her first vape exploded in her face.
Cherylee Parker decided to try a blueberry-flavoured vape after being enticed by the sweet-swelling fumes drifting into her apartment from her neighbours.
The 49-year-old was reaching into her fridge to get some food while vaping and claims the device suddenly “sparked” and set her elbow-length hair on fire.
Burning chunks of hair dropped onto her arm, setting her clothing and carpet alight.
Cherylee desperately tried to smother the flames on her top with a dressing gown but unintentionally stoked them so raced to the bathroom to throw water on herself.
But as the bathtub took “forever” to fill, she then decided to try the ‘stop, drop and roll’ method while dialling 911 as smoke and flames filled the apartment.
Cherylee, who doesn’t work, said she was clinically dead when paramedics arrived and spent a week “dying over and over again” while in hospital.
After a three-month stint in hospital having 15 operations to treat burns all over her body, including her left ear and breast, Cherylee was discharged from hospital.
Two-and-a-half years on from her ordeal in November 2022, Cherylee is sharing her story so people know to ‘stop, drop and roll’, as she credits this for saving her life.
Cherylee, from Summertown, Tennessee, US, said: “Just before Thanksgiving around my apartment I was smelling blueberries and it just smelled so good.
“I said to someone ‘are you smelling those blueberries?’ they said ‘yeah it’s a vape’.
“I was like ‘hmm that might save me from making a blueberry pie’ so, as I was quitting smoking, I bought a vape pen.
“On Thanksgiving evening I was sitting in my chair, I’d just finished a movie on my tablet and was eating.
“I went to put the leftovers away while vaping and as I opened the fridge door it sparked and suddenly my hair was on fire.
“I was wearing jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt and had my robe, which I wear when I’m freezing.
“I tried to use it to beat the flames out but it made the flames bigger and go up my arms and my face.
“I ran to the bathroom and turned the tub on, it felt like forever to get water in the tub.
“Stop, drop, roll was my very last chance. [I did that] my telephone was in my back pocket and I managed to call 911.
I don’t remember the paramedics coming into me, I was dead but they revived me
Cherylee Parker
“At that point I screamed, I said ‘God please take me. I’m ready, I can’t do this’ so he did.
“I don’t remember the paramedics coming into me, I was dead but they revived me.”
Cherylee was rushed to a nearby ER department before being transferred to the burns unit at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan.
There she underwent $2million-worth of treatment (equivalent to around £1.6million), covered by her health insurance, to treat the burns on her body, including skin grafts.
Cherylee said: “I spent a week dying over and over again, they call it circling the drain.
“I had burns across 55 per cent of my body, I didn’t have anything less than third-degree burns.
“My left ear and breast were burned off and I had to have 15 surgeries. It was the worst pain – nobody realises unless you’re a burns survivor.”
Once discharged from hospital in February 2023 Cherylee, who had to learn how to walk again, went for regular check-ups where doctors removed dead skin and changed her bandages.
Cherylee is sharing her story to educate people about the dangers of fires and what to do if you face a similar situation.
Cherylee said: “I didn’t know vape pens could blow up. They don’t know what happened, it just malfunctioned.
“If you’re ever unfortunately in the same position as me, my advice is to stop, drop and roll straight away, that should be your number one goal.
“Because in that moment there’s a chance to save yourself, that’s the only thing that’s going to put the flames out.
“I’m not vaping anymore, one time was a good enough try for me. I started smoking when I was eight years old.”
What is 'Stop, Drop and Roll'?
IF someone’s clothing is on fire, use the following steps: Stop, Drop and Roll.
Stop the casualty from panicking and moving around as any movement will increase the flames.
Drop the casualty onto the ground and wrap him/her in a fire blanket or heavy fabric such as a coat or blanket.
Roll the casualty along the ground until the flames have been put out.
Source: St John Ambulance