Man nearly has genitals blown off after e-cigarette explodes in his trouser pocket

A man has been left with severe burns to his crotch region after an e-cigarette exploded in his pocket. Photo / 123rf

A man has been left with severe burns to his crotch region after an e-cigarette exploded in his pocket.

Darren Wilson needed skin grafts to his crotch and nearly lost his genitals after the popular smoking device burst into flames causing battery acid to leak on to his private parts.

The father-of-three told the Liverpool Echo he is in so much pain he has to take a dose of morphine whenever he needs to go to toilet.

"I have been refurbishing my house. I was stood by the kitchen door and next thing I thought someone had thrown a firework into the doorway," he said.

"I looked down and my pocket was going off like a banger; it was fizzing and sparking and all smoke was coming from it."

The 37-year-old from the UK can't currently walk and needs his wound to be re-dressed every eight hours.

Wilson gave up smoking six months ago, turning to e-cigarettes as he thought they'd be healthier for him.

He and his partner Clarie Mulhearn have seen the funny side to a horrible situation, with Mulhearn saying: "I just said to him, you're a gas engineer, you've never had any problems or burns, and you get blown up by an e-cig."