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Joe Harker
A woman who was turned into a 'human fireball' after her vape exploded has given a warning about the dangers of the habit.
Cherylee Parker had started smoking when she was just eight years old and took up vaping after smelling the fumes from her neighbour's vapes.
The 49-year-old was quitting smoking and liked the smell of her neighbour's blueberry vape so she went out and bought a vape pen, but when she was putting away leftover food in the aftermath of Thanksgiving 2022 the device 'sparked' and the woman suddenly realised it had exploded and set her hair 'on fire'.
Chunks of burning hair dropped onto her body and set more of her alight while it also fell onto her carpet to spread the flames.
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She tried putting out the fire with a dressing gown but it spread across her body and she then tried running a bath, but as the bath was taking a long time to fill up she called for an ambulance and attempted to 'stop, drop and roll'.
When paramedics found her she was clinically dead and her home was filled with smoke and flames.
"I was wearing jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt and had my robe, which I wear when I'm freezing," Cherylee explained of her horrific ordeal.
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She continued: "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. My telephone was in my back pocket and I managed to call 911. 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 said she spent the following week 'dying over and over again', which she said was something called 'circling the drain', and had to spend three months in hospital.
It took 15 operations to treat burns she had all over her body, which fortunately was covered by her health insurance.
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The Tennessee woman explained she had 'burns across 55 percent of my body', and that her 'left ear and breast were burned off' with her describing the horrific ordeal as 'the worst pain'.
"Nobody realises unless you're a burns survivor," she said of the pain she suffered.
Cherylee's hoping that by sharing her story more people will know what to do in case they end up being on fire.
"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," she said.
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"Because in that moment there's a chance to save yourself, that's the only thing that's going to put the flames out."
After the first vape she bought exploded and set her on fire the 49-year-old is 'not vaping anymore' and said that 'one time was a good enough try for me'.