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Man sleeping with charging iPhone suffers severe burns

Commentary: An Alabama man wakes, his dog tag makes contact with the charger and he gets a severe electric jolt.

Chris Matyszczyk
2 min read

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


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A shot of Day's injuries.

WAAY-TV screenshot by Chris Matyszcyk/CNET

"I just thought that's how you die."

These were the words of 32-year-old Wiley Day to WAAY-TV after he had a bad experience with his iPhone.

He said he fell asleep with it charging via an extension cord next to him in bed.

When he woke up on Thursday morning, he discovered that his dog-tag necklace had become entangled in a space that had emerged between the extension cord and the charger.

He says he was jolted to the floor by the forces of electricity, but he was able to break the chain off his neck in time. "I kept yelling 'Jesus,'" he told WAAY.

He described the feeling to the Washington Post as: "the eeriest, darkest, most demonic thing you could ever experience."

Neither Day nor Apple immediately responded to a request for comment. However, Day said he suffered second- and third-degree burns to his neck and hands. Doctors told WAAY that he was lucky to be alive.

On his Facebook page, Day said his current pain level is "only about a 2, but I don't know what's to come." He added that he was "most happy to be an example for those who were unaware of the dangers of charging electronics while sleeping."

What happened to Day is just one example of the dangers of sleeping with a charging phone next to you. Phones have even occasionally been known to explode during the night.

Day told the Post that after his experience became public, he heard from many concerned people.

"I found out most people were using extension cords because they were still on their devices in bed," he said. "I mean, it's sad but true."