Electronic cigarette explodes in Muskogee woman's hand

Smoking can be hazardous to your health but, in some cases so can trying to quit.

Shona Bear Clark said she had tried to kick her "half a pack a day" habit for some time. She decided to purchase an electronic cigarette from Walmart because friends and family told they had successfully quit smoking using this method.

Shona Bear purchased the OneJoy NJOY electronic cigarette from Walmart on Sunday afternoon and brought it home to give it try. She said the device exploded when she tried to remove it from the package. "It was as loud as firing a gun, but a gun fired right in your face," said Clark.

Clark and her sister-in-law, Lucine Schrimsher, were both in the living room when the explosion happened. Both women said the explosion looked like a white cloud of smoke and was so powerful it knocked a 15 pound salt lamp from the shelf, shattered the light bulb inside of it and knocked a decoration from across the room off of the wall. "It could have blown my head off if it had been in my mouth," said Clark.

Shona Bear said the blast affected the her hearing in her right ear and her vision is off in her left eye. Shona Bear said she warned Walmart about what happened called the NJOY company. The company suggested that she send in the electronic cigarette to be checked out and offered to give her a refund.

The problem may be linked to the battery inside of the device. There have been similar reports of electronic cigarette explosions nationwide. In February, a Florida man lost his front teeth after an electronic cigarette exploded in his face because of a defective rechargable battery.