His cell phone exploded in his bed a month ago and his body is still injured: "I hope it doesn't happen to anyone else"

Daniela Araujo

02/22/2020 - 15:01

• Clarín.com
• Society

In the early hours of Friday, January 31, Catriel Gómez returned home after hanging out with friends. He did what he used to: he entered his room, left the phone charging and fell asleep with him on the bed. At 8 o'clock in the morning a tremendous burning in the armpit woke him, pain ran through his entire torso. "I woke up and was on fire," he says.

The mattress began to catch fire and he, from the impression, let out a scream that shook the whole house. "I shot to the bathroom, which is next to the piece." His younger brother, with whom he shares the room, helped him and, after several attempts, was able to put out the fire of the mattress, which was scorched and unusable.

Catriel passed cold water down the torso, he wanted to relieve the burning. Where did the fire come from? What had happened? While I was in the bathroom "a few minutes passed, but I couldn't stand the pain," he confesses.

He returned to his room and saw his Motorola E5 Play melted, the phone had been set on fire. Amid the uproar and the concern of his relatives, a neighbor took him to the Municipal Hospital La Falda. Before 9 in the morning the doctors and nurses of the guard attended a very rare case for the first time: a burn caused by a short circuit in a cell phone.

Dr. Lucas Viotto, director of the entity, told Clarín about the state of the young man: “He had the cell phone on his chest, so he presented grade 2 burns in the trunk and abdomen region of the right side, as well as in the legs". The place where he suffered the most damage was in the right armpit.

"They treated me really well. They cleaned me with gauze, serum and placed a special ointment for burns. I will have been ... an hour or a little more, ”recalls Gomez. He was bandaged all the wounds and so he could leave, because he explains that "he could not be in the sun."

Despite the injuries, Viotto reported that Catriel entered the hospital completely conscious, by his own means and with normal vital signs, although he was “in a state of anxiety, the product of what happened. What he says is that he felt "as if a torch had been lit", imagine.

Catriel Gómez, the 22-year-old young man from Cordoba who suffered burns because his cell phone caught fire. (Courtesy: Catriel Gómez).

When he was back at home, still "shocked" by the experience, Gomez wrote on his Facebook page about the accident and admitted that he thought this was not happening. He wanted this to serve as a warning to his contacts and friends.

The publication lasted a short time: “I was hacked by Facebook, I don't know, I recovered it on my Google account but I went in and the post was gone. I have everything else. ” To this day some of his friends confess that they could not believe it. " They thought that was carrying" he says.

Catriel is a mechanic, he can mention models of memory motorcycles, and although he had some now he prefers to save for a car. The torso, the armpit and the thighs annoy him, "sometimes like my skin is pulling, it is healing and it is drier", but what bothers him the most, he says, is not being able to work. All your right side is felt. "There I am fine, but I lift the spoon to eat and burn or the clothes bother me a little." Catriel is right handed.

Gomez is the eldest of five brothers, two boys and two girls, with whom he lives with his mother. Two years ago he was a father and when he talks about his baby the voice is filled with pride. He and his son's mother are not together but they get along.

Catriel Gómez two months before the accident with her 2 year old baby. (Courtesy: Catriel Gómez)

The cell phone had bought it on credit less than a year ago and is still paying it in installments. Now a friend lent him a phone with which he can communicate and when he has to plug it in to charge it he still thinks a bit. At home, everyone is attentive when they have to connect theirs.

Because of the type of injuries the young man suffered, Viotto estimates that his total recovery will take just over 30 days. Meanwhile, he changes the bandages daily and applies a special ointment for burns.

It is still unclear whether the accident occurred was due to a cell phone factory defect. Catriel says that both the cable and the charger were original and had less than a year of use. He also denied that there were power cuts during those hours, the only electric device that went into combustion was his cell phone. He has not decided whether to take legal action against the company, from where they say they have tried to contact him.

This was the Motorola E5 Play after combustion. The company wants to assess it.

Although cases like Catriel's rarely occur, Samsung was also involved in a controversy with one of its teams. In October 2016, it withdrew its Samsung Note 7 model from the market, after several complaints from users due to instantaneous ignition problems and battery overheating. The company subsequently assured that it was due to a factory and design error.

In the town of La Falda now everyone is more cautious, "just in case", because the case of Catriel "seems incredible, but it happens," they say.

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