A personal trainer’s workout took a dramatic turn when his iPhone exploded after being struck by a heavy weight at a gym in Scapoose, Oregon. The incident, which occurred in January, involved Kyle Counts, who was performing a triceps exercise when his iPhone 15 Pro Max slipped out of his pocket and onto the gym floor.
Unaware of the fallen phone, Counts accidentally dropped a 90lb dumbbell directly onto it. Initially, the damage seemed limited to a severely cracked screen. However, as Counts bent down to inspect his phone, the situation quickly escalated.
Plumes of smoke began to emerge from the damaged device, prompting Counts to drop it immediately. Within moments, the phone started sparking. Reacting swiftly, Counts picked up the phone and hurriedly carried it out of the gym through the emergency exit.
In his account to Newsflare, Counts described the tense moments: “First instinct was to drop the phone, but when I saw it wasn’t just smoking but started sparking, I grabbed it as fast as I could and ran outside through the emergency exit.” Once outside, he attempted to extinguish the sparks by kicking the phone into a puddle, where it boiled briefly before finally smoldering out.
The incident led to the evacuation of the entire gym, with Counts noting that he had never witnessed anything like it, despite having previously dropped heavy items on his phone without such dramatic consequences. The fact that the phone was brand new added to the personal trainer’s dismay.
Counts’ experience serves as a stark reminder of the potential hazards electronic devices can pose when subjected to severe impacts, especially in environments like gyms where heavy weights are commonly used.