Alabama Man Electrocuted While Sleeping Next to Charging Phone

An Alabama man was electrocuted while he was sleeping with his iPhone charging in his bed.

It was an otherwise normal night for 32-year-old Wiley Day of Huntsville, Alabama. But when he went to bed, things quickly took a turn for the worse. While he was sleeping with his iPhone plugged in, the dog tags he was wearing reportedly slipped between the charger and the extension cord — and “became [a] conductor,” he told local news station WAAY 31. Luckily, he was able to tear the dog tags from his neck.

Day was treated for 2nd- and 3rd-degree burns on his neck and hands. According to local doctor Benjamin Fail, around 100 volts can kill a person and Day was hit with a charge equivalent to about 110 volts. “He’s lucky to be alive,” Dr. Fail said, “Electrocution kills.” Doctors said that he is expected to make a full recovery.

This isn’t the first time that people were shocked by a freak phone accident — and in some cases, those accidents can certainly be fatal. One woman in Malaysia was electrocuted when she was speaking on her cell phone while it was charging, according to DigitalTrends. Another woman in China was reportedly killed by a similar event in 2013, Fox News reported.

Though they are rare, consumers should still protect themselves against electrocution by exercising caution around charging phones — particularly when using counterfeit or broken chargers. In December, investigators found that less than 1 percent of chargers had enough insulation to protect users from electric shocks. Additionally, in October, a lawsuit levied against an Amazon vendor claimed that over 90 percent of “genuine” Apple chargers and accessories on the retail platform were, in fact, counterfeited.

As for Day, he said that he will use his second chance to help speak out against the habit of keeping a plugged-in phones in bed. “Charge your phone away from you,” Day offered as valuable advice. “Charge it the next day. It’s not worth your life.”

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