A university student has been left with horrific burns after a portable phone charger exploded beside him in the middle of the night.
Ollie Anderson, 21, was jolted awake when the device erupted into flames inside his accommodation in Armadale, in regional New South Wales.
‘I looked down and the whole side of my body was engulfed in flames, it was shooting flames all over me,’ Mr Anderson told 2GB radio.
‘I thought the whole place was going to go up.’
Mr Anderson had borrowed the charger from a friend and left it plugged in overnight. He only noticed the extent of his burns five minutes after he ran to safety.
‘I didn’t realise I’d burnt my arms until way after, when someone actually told me. I guess it was shock and adrenaline,’ he said.
‘They said, ‘Mate, your arm’s kinda torched’.’
Mr Anderson was rushed to hospital with burns from his shoulder to his wrist.
Ollie Anderson (pictured) was burned up and down his right arm after the charger blew up
Anderson said his arm (pictured) was engulfed in flames moments after the charger exploded
He now requires treatment every two days and says the pain is so intense he couldn’t even pour water over the wounds.
The charger was purchased by a family friend from the Australian company Zip Zap.
The friend reached out to Zip Zap and discovered the company had issued a product recall back in 2024, a warning he never saw.
Mr Anderson fears many others may still be unknowingly using the device.
‘Makes you wonder how many other people didn’t see it, and how many others it could happen to,’ he said.
Zip Zap said they alerted affected customers via email and text throughout July, September, October, and November of 2024.
‘Your safety and satisfaction are our top priorities. We’re informing you of a voluntary recall of our Zap Pad product, specifically for orders placed between 15th October 2023 and 27th December 2023,’ the recall stated.
Mr Anderson said it had ‘made life pretty hard’ and limited mobility in his right arm.
An image of a charger sold by Aussie company Zip Zap, currently advertised on their site
The 21-year-old hopes to receive compensation and plans to contact Zip Zap after he’s finished his university exams.
He also urged others to rethink their charging habits.
‘I don’t even charge my phone at night now,’ he said.
Zip Zap Founder and CEO Bailey Page told Daily Mail that customer safety was ‘of the utmost importance to Zip Zap Chargers’.
‘To ensure customers were given every opportunity to return a potentially defective product, we made contact five separate times via the email address and mobile number we require customers to provide at the time of purchase,’ he said.
‘We continue to pride ourselves on safety, transparency, and the highest levels of quality and regulatory compliance, and we remain committed to delivering safe, innovative products to our valued customers.’
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, there have been 17 power bank recalls since 2020, nine of them in the past two years.
