A mom from Illinois is speaking out after she says her daughter suffered second-degree burns while using her cell phone as it was charging.
Jackie Fedro and her family live in Highland Park, a Chicago suburb. With her young teenager becoming more independent and active in school activities, Jackie Fedro, like many parents, wanted a way to make keeping tabs and checking in on her daughter easier. That’s how 13-year-old Gabbie got her first cell phone.
Yet, little did Jackie or Gabbie know, things were able to take a drastic turn.
According to BuzzFeed News, within a week, the Illinois mother found herself warning parents of this unexpected danger in cell phone use
Accordingly, Gabbie was using her new phone in her room when Fedro heard her daughter screaming.
“She came running downstairs after it [happened] grabbing her neck,” Fedro said. “She was in so much pain she was screaming hysterically.”
Fedro said she felt helpless because she had no idea what had happened.
“It’s the worst feeling in the world as a mother to watch your child scream in pain and have no idea how to help her,” she said. “It took her a good five minutes before she was even able to tell us what had happened.”
Gabbie had been using her new T-Mobile LG d500 while it was plugged into the wall. Gabbie told her mother that she was suddenly shocked by the cord. The current ran through a necklace she was wearing, causing 2nd-degree burns on her neck.
Scott Wolfson of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission told BuzzFeed News that burn cases connected to cell phone usage are rare, but can happen. He warns against using generic brand chargers or replacement batteries.
In the majority of cases, burns from cell phones arise when the batteries overheat, Wolfson told BuzzFeed News. The New York Police Department recently issued a warning about not sleeping with a cell phone under pillows for this very reason.
In fact, studies show that sleeping with your phone near you reduces the quality of your sleep.
The light from your smartphone can make it such that you are less likely to fall a sleep or have a good night’s rest.
Fedro said that Gabbie had been using the factory-issued charger that originally came with the phone. T-Mobile sent Fedro a new phone and offered to pay for Gabbie’s medical bills.
References: remedydaily.com, buzzfeednews.com
