11-Year-Old Boy Suffers Burns To His Legs After a BlackBerry EXPLODED and Set Fire To His Bed

An 11-year-old boy suffered agonising burns to his legs when a BlackBerry mobile exploded and set fire to his bed.

Kian McCreath, of Holbrooks, Coventry, woke up screaming with melted plastic stuck to his legs after his brother’s phone burst into flames in their shared bedroom.
The schoolboy's mother Sarah, 39, doused the burning duvet and mattress and put her son into the bath before he was taken to University Hospital.

                    

                     

Dangerous phone: Kian McCreath, with the twisted remains of the phone woke up screaming in a burning bed and was left with painful injuries, right

Frantic: Kian's terrified mother Sarah put out the flames, lifted her son out of the bed and put him in the bath

Kian’s family are now demanding BlackBerry’s popular Curve 9320 mobile phone be recalled from shops. 

The phone, which belonged to Kian’s brother, Mason, was bought as a present for his 13th birthday a fortnight earlier.
Ms McCreath said she had placed the phone on Kian's bed after finding it on the landing charging last Sunday.
'It was about 2.30am and I couldn’t sleep so I came downstairs,' she said. 'As I left my room and noticed Mason’s phone on charge on the landing. 
'I know the phone has an alarm he uses, so I unplugged it and plonked it on Kian’s bed.

'Dangerous': The boys' father wants to see every BlackBerry Curve 9320 recalled

'I thought nothing of it, made a cup of tea then I heard a really loud "pop" sound. Kian started screaming at the top of his voice, shouting "my bed’s on fire!"

 

'It was just horrific.'
The boys' father Pete had bought the mobile phone for Mason from a Vodafone shop in Birmingham.
The carpenter has kept the charred remains and has spoken to Research in Motion - manufacturers who produce Blackberry phones - about his concerns.
'If Sarah hadn’t acted so quickly that room could have gone up in flames within minutes,' saidMr McCreath.
'It was just lucky she got there so quickly. 

Red raw: The 11-year-old had to be taken to hospital for treatment - and his parents say they are horrified at the thought of how much worse this could have been

'It was so close. I’m shaking just talking about it. If had been any worse I could have my sons in boxes right now.
'Kian has burns to his lower legs where it exploded. It’s left them mentally scarred. Kian won’t even go back into his bedroom.'
Mason has been offered a replacement phone by Vodafone, but Mr McCreath said he wants the model recalled because of the risk to his son's classmates at Cardinal Newman School and children across the country.
'That phone is dangerous and it needs to be tested,' he said. 'A lot of the kids are raving about that Blackberry phone right now.

                        

                     

Concerning: Vodaphone have provided a replacement mobile and the manufacturers are 'investigating the matter'. The Blackberry burst into flames just minutes after being dropped on to Kian's bed

'My main concern now is the safety of other kids.'
Ms McCreath, an admin assistant, added: 'The whole thing was absolutely terrifying. The whole of his mattress and about a third of his quilt has been burnt away.
'I keep thinking what would have happened if I had been in bed and the phone had set alight on the landing. I worry that the house could have burnt down.'
A spokesman from RIM said: 'We take claims of this nature very seriously and are investigating this matter as a priority.'
A spokeswoman for Vodaphone said the company was trying to get in touch with the McCreaths so the burned phone can be returned and examined.
DailyMail