A vape battery explosion burned the skin off my leg

A man had to be airlifted to hospital after a vape battery exploded and burned the skin off his leg.

Gavin Sutherland had the spare lithium battery in his pocket while he was working in a jewellery workshop in Orkney.

"I heard a hiss and slight movement in my pocket," he said. "Then it went off like a firework - the blast searing into my thigh."

The 40-year-old was airlifted by a Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) helicopter to Aberdeen for skin graft work following the incident in February.

Warning: this article contains an image of the injury

"I knew immediately it was something to do with the battery, but things happened so fast," he said.

"There was a blast and a lot of heat, smoke and noise. I was running around in a panic, swearing, but didn't know whether to use water or an extinguisher on it.

"I ran to the door and the battery rolled to the ground, having burned through my pocket. I put some cold water on my thigh, but then the pain set in.

"The denim and the fabric of my boxer shorts had melted onto the wound, so I used a sharp knife to trim away the material and get a look at the wound. It was pretty sore and obviously needed medical attention."

Colleagues helped place a burns gel pack on Gavin's leg and drove him to Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall.

"I thought I would just get some cream and a telling off, but it turned out to be a lot more serious than that," he said. "At Accident and Emergency, I sat down and basically collapsed - I was in extreme pain."

The wound was rinsed and pieces of melted fabric picked away, revealing a finger-length wound, plus searing across a large area where the pocket had been.

"They had me on painkillers pretty quickly, but I could see the severity of the wound as they worked on it," he said.

When doctors were able to get a clear look at the burn, they deemed it serious enough to send Gavin for specialist treatment at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

SCAA was called in for the hour-long helicopter flight.

Gavin slept for much of the journey due to morphine for the pain, waking as they approached Aberdeen.

"The crew were really reassuring - so professional yet so personal," he said. "I knew I was in safe hands.

"I can't imagine what getting to the mainland would have been like with any other form of transport," he said. "They even shared their sweeties."

Gavin had to undergo a skin graft operation. There was no muscle damage but he has been left with permanent scarring.

SCAA's involvement prompted his nine-year-old son Caleb and a friend to stage a 20-mile sponsored cycle, raising nearly £7,000 in support of the air ambulance charity.