Australian man claims iPhone exploded, burned his butt

Mountain biker suffers third degree burns after a fall following smartphone’s explosion

An Australian man has claimed that he received third-degree burns after his iPhone exploded following a fall from mountain bike.

Gareth Clear, 36, said he was riding his mountain bike alone through Manly Dam, on the outskirts of Sydney Sunday afternoon when he fell from his bike with his phone in his back pocket.

Although it was just a minor fall as Clear did not receive any major injury and got up quickly, he felt a burning sensation on his right butt cheek and noticed smoke pouring from his rear.

“I suddenly saw this incredible plume of smoke and there was a searing pain that went along with it - as though someone had pushed a huge block of ice against my leg. It was pretty freaking painful,” Daily Mail quoted Clear as saying.



Soon he found out that his shorts were melting. “The phone was stuck to my leg having melted through both my shorts and my skins," said Clear, adding, "It had to have been more than 100 degrees.”

PHOTO COURTESY: DAILY MAIL

The biker even burned his fingers while trying to remove the exploded phone from his shorts and ultimately punched the phone off his burning skin. Smoke continues to pour out of the phone even after falling on the ground.

Unfortunately, there was no one to help Clear as he was alone at the time. “I was on my own, writhing on the ground in agony,” he recalled.



Despite being in agony, he waited for the device to cool off and took it with him as Clear feared that bent phone could do more damage to someone else. “I basically sat there for about 20 minutes because I wanted to take the phone with me.”

PHOTO COURTESY: DAILY MAIL

Clear would need to spend six days at Royal North Shore burns, where a machine would suck out the dead, charred skin and encouraging healthy skin to grow in its place.

“Every iPhone is the same - if it happens to one, it will happen to another one. I was just lucky I was wearing pretty thick clothing and it was on my lower body,” said Clear.

Reportedly Apple has contacted Clear and said they are looking into the issue but have not provided any further comment.

The article originally appeared on Daily Mail