Why you shouldn't charge your phone in bed
When Wiley Day fell asleep on March 22, his iPhone was not far away. Like so many others, he had grown used to keeping his phone with him in bed, via an extension cord, as it charged.
The 32-year-old Huntsville, Alabama, man would soon regret that habit.
The next morning, Day woke up and rolled over. A dog-tag necklace that he was wearing happened to catch on the exposed prongs of the charger head, which had come loose from the extension cord. The metal chain suddenly became a conductor for the electricity — straight to Day’s neck. The jolt he felt was “the eeriest, darkest, most demonic thing you could ever experience,” Day told the Washington Post. “I don’t have enough adjectives to describe it.”
Day said he was thrown from his bed to the ground. “Your body is numb at that point,” he said. Day’s eyesight started to fade, and he felt as if he were trying to see out of a peephole. He became acutely aware of his heartbeat, which thundered in his ear.
Somehow he managed to yank the necklace and pull it off. There were strips of skin and flesh missing where the metal chain had scorched his neck.
Benjamin Fail, a Huntsville doctor, told WAAY News that 100 volts of electricity can kill a person. He estimated Day had been hit with 110. After three days in hospital, Day was released.
The American Burn Association says there are 400 electrocution deaths and 4400 injuries caused electrical hazards each year in the US. “Hot plugs and sockets are often caused by deteriorated connections to the cord wires,” it says. “Many older cords are made with small wire that can overheat easily. Check the temperature of extension cords when they are in use. If they are hot to the touch, disconnect the appliance.”