Note: Some images in this report are graphic, and may be disturbing to some viewers. 
 
 BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA) -- They're advertised as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes, but one Northwest Arkansas man has a warning to electronic cigarette users after his exploded in his mouth. 
 
 
 
 Josh Swartz is stitched up, but out of work as he fights through the pain of healing. He says he bought his e-cigarette just two weeks ago in hopes it would help him quit smoking. 
 
 
 
 Josh says he bought a Fu Chai Mechanical Mod. "I put it to my mouth and as soon as I pressed the button on the bottom, the device exploded," Josh said. 
 
 
 
 Struggling to speak, Josh slowly explained what he says happened on Friday night. 
 
 
 
 "As soon as it exploded, I just had this intense pain and burning inside my mouth and my throat," he said. 
 
 
 
 His wife, Cindy, says she was headed to the garage to meet Josh when she heard what sounded like a gunshot and saw flames shooting from the garage. 
 
 
 
 "That's when I looked back and I found my husband bent over here in the garage and gasping for air and he couldn't even speak to me," Cindy said. 
 
 
 
 Josh suffered burns to his mouth, throat and hand, shattered teeth, and severed lips. 
 
 
 
 "It was hanging down, and this entire piece here had to be put back into place. Then there's a hole through my lip here," he explained. 
 
 
 
 The couple believes the battery is to blame. Cindy showed how the electronic cigarette broke into pieces during the explosion, turning the battery almost inside out. 
 
 
 
 They say they were never warned of possible dangers, but they hope to help change that. 
 
 
 
 "We're all just guinea pigs. Until we speak up and try to share with other people that these are dangerous and they can happen to you, then people aren't going to know," Cindy said. 
 
 
 
 The couple is meeting with a lawyer this week in hopes of recouping medical costs. They also hope this incident will lead to more regulations, including warning signs inside shops. ||||| Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter 
 
 MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Naples area man is in a medically induced coma at a Miami hospital after an e-cigarette blew up in his face. 
 
 “I was laying in bed with my two-year old and I heard an explosion,” said Ema Richardson. “Then I started smelling burning, smoke and fire.” 
 
 Richardson said when she went into another room she found her 21-year old brother Evan Spahlinger on the floor. His face and upper part of his body was covered in soot, the e-cigarette he had been puffing on had exploded. 
 
 “I found my brother not breathing with his whole face burned and his neck burned and trying to throw up a little or maybe he was gasping for air,” said Richardson. 
 
 Spahlinger was rushed to NCH Downtown Naples Hospital before he was flown to a Miami. 
 
 “They said he has internal and external burns and damage to his lungs from the explosion itself and possibly the mouth piece went, when the cigarette exploded it went down his throat and exploded again,” she said. 
 
 North Collier Fire Control and Rescue said the explosion was most likely caused by the device’s lithium battery. Richardson said her brother will never use an e-cig again. 
 
 “He said I’m done, that’s it. That’s the only thing he said. Luckily I was here. It was the most traumatic experience I think of my life.” 
 
 Nationwide, there have been several reports of e-cigarette batteries exploding. A California woman won a $2 million dollar award by a jury after an e-cigarette incident left her with serious burns. ||||| E-cigarettes could be more dangerous than normal cigarettes. 
 
 Especially if the smoking device can blow up in your face, like it did for 29-year-old Cordero Caples, a Memphis native living in Colorado Springs. 
 
 FLORIDA MAN IN COMA AFTER E-CIG EXPLODES IN FACE: FAMILY 
 
 Caples was smoking the e-cig Friday during a work break when the device exploded, breaking his neck, burning his mouth and knocking out his teeth, his sister Colessia Porter said. The Colorado college student was rushed to Memorial Hospital in critical condition, and underwent a successful spinal surgery on Sunday night, she told the Daily News. 
 
 "He could have lost his life," she said. "There's people that have lost limbs from this. We cannot have something of this magnitude happening to people." 
 
 Cordero Caples, 29, was in critical condition in a Colorado Springs hospital after an electronic cigarette exploded in his face. (GoFundMe) Caples suffered a broken neck, burns on his mouth and a broken tooth. (GoFundMe) 
 
 The victim, who is a father of a 1-year-old girl, was almost paralyzed for life from the explosive-cigarette. He came out of the spinal reconstruction surgery in stable condition, Porter said. She said he was suffering immense pain prior to the surgery, and was relieved, but still aching from the incident. He told her he didn't know that the vaping devices could become dangerous handheld bombs. 
 
 "If he knew that he was dealing with something that would explode on him, he definitely wouldn't have put himself in that situation," she said. 
 
 Caples' dreams of becoming a fitness trainer could be dashed because of this accident, his sister said. His family, including his 1-year-old daughter, has been distraught about the e-cig blow up. 
 
 "It's devastating to see a healthy man with all his strength be put in a position where he can possibly be paralyzed from an e-cig," she told the Daily News. 
 
 The remnants of the e-cigarette that exploded and sent Caples to the hospital in Colorado Springs. (GoFundMe) 
 
 Explosions with the e-cigs have been linked to faulty batteries, research from the U.S. Fire Administration showed. 
 
 "E-cigarette manufacturers should consider changing to a different style of electrical connection," the October 2014 study said. "The inclusion of protection circuits into the e-cigarette device would improve battery safety." 
 
 Porter said the dangerous device needs to be taken off the market until it's properly regulated to prevent these accidents. 
 
 The portion of the e-cig that Caples was smoking from that survived the blast was from Kangertech, a Chinese company founded in 2007. The company said it upholds the "highest quality standards," according to its website. The company did not respond to a Daily News' request for comment. Porter said her family was speaking with lawyers and considering suing the e-cigarette company responsible for the explosion. 
 
 A GoFundMe for Caples' medical bills was created on Sunday, and had raised $160 as of Monday afternoon. 
 
 Sign up for BREAKING NEWS Emails privacy policy Thanks for subscribing! ||||| ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Pinellas County's Medical Examiner confirms a vape pen explosion is to blame for the death of a 38-year-old St. Petersburg man. 
 
 Bill Pellan, Director of Investigations at the Pinellas County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the report to ABC Action News on Tuesday. 
 
 Tallmadge Wakeman D'Elia, who went by "Wake," died in a fire in an upstairs bedroom of a home located at 316 19th Avenue NE. 
 
 The autopsy report says the electronic cigarette created a "projectile wound" on D'Elia's head penetrating his skull and brain. It’s the first e-cigarette death in the United States, according to FEMA, which keeps statistics on e-cigarettes. 
 
 The medical examiner says the vape was a Smok-E Mountain Mech Works, a type of unregulated mechanical mod e-cigarette, which in an online description says "does not come with safety features." 
 
 ABC Action News found an online warning explaining that the vape is not meant for beginners. 
 
 “I just don’t think they’re safe enough," explained Gary Wilder, the owner of Lizard Juice. 
 
 Wilder says he, and many other local store owners, won’t sell the “unregulated” e-cigarettes. Instead they turn to vapes with a computer chip inside, which keeps the device from overheating. 
 
 “Any other e-cig that has a computer chip in it prevents that from happening,” Wilder added. 
 
 According to a recent FEMA report, vape pen explosions are not common, but when they do happen, the shape of the devices make them behave like “flaming rockets.” 
 
 Wilder suggests using rubber casings over any extra batteries and re-wrapping any batteries that seem to be worn down. 
 
 "If that seal is broken on the top, the negative is exposed and if you put that in your pocket, it can do the same thing in your pocket," Wilder added. 
 
 The autopsy report does not say why the device exploded. 
 
 A representative from Smok-E Mountain tells us their devices do not explode, instead telling us it is likely an atomizer (the part a person inserts into their mouth) or a battery issue. The company says they've had problems with other companies cloning their batteries, which makes them less safe. The company is hoping to see photos of the device that was used by D'Elia. 
 
 When firefighters discovered D'Elia, 45% of his body was covered in burns. The Medical Examiner says D'Elia's cause of death is "accidental." ||||| The injuries a college student sustained when an electronic cigarette exploded in his face could have been prevented if the man had been taught to use the e-cigarette properly, a smoke shop employee told FOX13. Meanwhile, the man's family is sharing their story to try to keep the same accident from happening to another person. 
 
 >>Read More Trending Stories 
 
 Cordero Caples, a Memphis Native, was in surgery at a hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo. for most of the day Sunday. Caples had a fractured vertebrae, facial fractures, and busted teeth, among other injuries, after an electronic cigarette exploded Friday. 
 
 "It’s going to be a long, intensive recovery process," Colessia Porter, the victim's sister said. "I ask that the City of Memphis keep us in your prayers. We need them. He needs them." 
 
 Caples is a college student in Colorado, studying to be a person trainer. Porter said doctors aren't sure if her brother will be able to walk again. 
 
 "He has a very outgoing personality. He’s that guy that can do whatever in the world he wants to do," Porter said. "He’s really, really into fitness, and he’s really good at it. That’s what he was in school to do, but with an injury like this, it puts those things in question. I’m just hopeful he can make a speedy recovery and a full recovery." 
 
 An employee at VaporWize, a smoke shop in Memphis, immediately noticed something hazardous when FOX13 showed her the picture of Caples' combusted e-cigarette. 
 
 "This is way too powerful to power this," Mary Grace Burns said as she described the pieces Caples used for his vaporizer. "Way too hot of a battery. You can have a way-too-high amped battery in there or something like that could easily misfire and cause something like that. It's operator error though." 
 
 E-cigarettes are sold in parts. The two main parts are the battery tank and the coil on top that heats to create the vapor. Burns said the combination that made up Caples' cigarette was incompatible. 
 
 Burns said e-cigarette users should buy their products from trusted stores, and be weary of online dealers. 
 
 "They think it's just an easy little hobby, but they aren't watching the videos on YouTube of how to do it, or coming in here, to get us to teach them how to do it," Burns said. 
 
 FOX13 asked the smoke shop employee if e-cigarettes are safe. 
 
 "Completely, 100 percent," Burns said, "As long as you get direct instruction, and you know what you're doing, and you feel comfortable enough to do it, I think it's completely safe. 
 
 Caples does not have insurance, and the family is struggling to pay his hospital bills. If you would like to help, you can donate to Caples' GoFundMe account. Click here to help: https://www.gofundme.com/knbwfd9w. 
 
 "I come from the great state of Tennessee," Porter said. "We have great people in the City of Memphis, and we believe in helping one another. So I ask my city to help us in this transition."
– Josh Swartz bought an e-cigarette just two weeks ago, hoping to use it to quit smoking. Instead, on Friday, it exploded while he was smoking it, the Arkansas man tells KNWA. "I put it to my mouth and as soon as I pressed the button on the bottom, the device exploded," he says. His wife, who was on her way to the garage to find her husband at the time, says she heard what sounded like gunfire and saw flames. "That's when I looked back and I found my husband bent over here in the garage and gasping for air and he couldn't even speak to me," she says. In addition to burns on his mouth, throat, and hand, Josh also ended up with severed lips and shattered teeth; they believe the e-cigarette's battery caused the explosion. The tale is just the latest bit of bad publicity for the e-cigarette industry: A study published this week finds that adolescents who use e-cigarettes are 30% more likely than those who've never used the devices to report respiratory problems like coughing or phlegm, Reuters reports. "E-cigarettes are certainly not harmless and serious health problems of long-term use will probably emerge with time," the study author says. But the idea of banning e-cigarette sales to teens is not as good as it may sound: Another recent study finds that when people under 18 are not allowed to purchase e-cigarettes, rates of traditional smoking among that age group actually go up, Medscape reports. (Click to read about another man who was recently injured by an exploding e-cigarette.)