Man Sustains Second-Degree Burns After Heated Insole 'Exploded’ in His Boot: 'I Started Freaking Out'

Man Sustains Second-Degree Burns After Heated Insole 'Exploded’ in His Boot: 'I Started Freaking Out' https://ift.tt/gnNIdBq

"I never imagined this would be an issue I would be dealing with," Tyler Morris tells PEOPLE

Tyler Morris (2)

(L-R) Tyler Morris and his injured foot

A man from Minnesota says he suffered second-degree burns on his foot after a rechargeable heated insole exploded inside his boot.

"The pain is increasing every day," Tyler Morris, of Trimont, tells PEOPLE this week about the injury to his foot. "I won’t know till the end of this week whether or not I will need skin grafts."

Tyler previously told NBC affiliate KARE that he bought the rechargeable insoles, which were sold by an overseas-based company, last year through Amazon for his hunting and fishing outings. 

He recalled that he felt a sharp pain on his right foot while setting up a fish house on a lake Tuesday, Dec. 12. 

"It just felt like a knife stabbed me in my heel," Tyler told the local TV station. "Then it started getting super, super hot, and I started freaking out, and there was white smoke just billowing out of my boot."

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"It would have been easily avoidable since I was not using the insoles for their heating properties since they had lost their ability to heat effectively," Tyler tells PEOPLE in retrospect, "but I left them in simply to have an insole since they were comfortable. I never imagined this would be an issue I would be dealing with."

Commenting on the incident, an Amazon spokesperson told PEOPLE that “the product in question has been removed and we are investigating the incident further.”

Tyler Morris (2)

Photos provided by Tyler Morris showed a charred sock and his injured foot

In a Facebook post shared on Wednesday, Dec. 13, Tyler’s wife Mikaela wrote that after what happened she rushed her husband to the ER in Fairmont.

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“They cut what was left of his sock off his foot, cleaned up his foot and contacted the burn center at the Hennepin county medical center,” Mikaela wrote alongside photos of Tyler’s injured foot and a charred sock. “Dr at the ER explained to us that this was 2nd degree burns and the HCMC would probably want to see him to check it out.” 

“So made the appointment at HCMC and headed there this morning,” she continued. “Come to find out it’s 2nd degree burn with possibility of some 3rd degree burns. Now starts the process of hoping and praying that his body does what it needs to to heal properly.”

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Tyler, who reportedly lost some feeling in his foot, told KARE that doctors said this type of injury happens frequently. 

Related: Woman Has Third-Degree Burns After Stepping Through 'Thin Crust' into Scalding Water at Old Faithful

The Morrises cautioned people to do research before buying rechargeable apparel items, especially made from overseas, or avoid buying them altogether, KARE reported.

"Through all this social media and news coverage I have found that the number of people that this has happened to is staggering, so I am more than happy to get some awareness out," Tyler tells PEOPLE. "I had never heard any of this before my injury."