BOSTON, Massachusetts –
A Boston man has died after he ignored recall warnings from Samsung about their Note 7 cell phones exploding, and put it into his newly purchased Gear VR. The Gear VR is a headset worn around the face that offers a “virtual reality” experience with your own cell phone. It is designed to work with a wide variety of Samsung products.
Max Willis, 20, died after his Note exploded while it was inside his headset, causing his eyes and face to be torn apart.
“Normally, the ‘explosion’ of these devices is very small, but even a very small explosion that close to your face will obviously kill you,” said police chief Robert Thompson. “When we arrived at the scene, Mr. Willis’ face was in several parts all over the floor, and the plastic pieces from his headset and phone were embedded in the wall behind him. It was the most gruesome thing I’ve ever seen.”
Samsung has offered to pay Willis’ parents a clean-up cost for their home, and say they are willing to give each member of the family a phone at half-price from their array of Samsung, certified pre-owned devices.