Boy Injured After Christmas Present Explodes In His Face

FARMINGTON, Utah – A 7-year-old boy ended up in the emergency room on Christmas morning after one of his presents blew up in his face.

Kempton Kirkwood got a lot of cool gifts this year, but he had his eye on something extra special: a blue Sharper Image laser tag gun.

When he opened it on Christmas though, something wasn’t right. A battery got stuck and the laser tag gun started to get hot. That’s when it exploded and sprayed battery acid in his eyes.

“Kempton took out the first battery and then I think he turned it over to see if the (other) battery would come out and it wouldn’t,” said Kempton’s mom, Lesha Kirkwood. “It just kind of popped and exploded right in his face.”

Home security camera footage shows Kempton looking at the laser tag gun. He’s then heard saying to his mom, “the batteries are hot” right before he reacts to a small explosion. He’s then seen grabbing his eyes and crying. His mom rushes him out of the room to wash his eyes out.

“When I was getting the battery out, I saw stuff come out of it into my eye,” said Kempton. “It hurt a lot.”

His family rushed him to the ER where they spent the next couple hours. Kempton has to take antibiotics but luckily doctors say there isn’t permanent damage.

Lesha knows an accident like this is rare, but she wants to warn other parents just in case.

“If you sense something going wrong, just trust your instincts,” she said. “If there’s a battery and it’s heating up, get as far away from it as possible.”

A similar story was reported in San Antonio, Texas on Dec. 26. A woman said her kids were playing with the same blue Sharper Image laser tag gun when it started overheating. The woman went to check out the batteries and it exploded all over her.

KSL reached out to Sharper Image for a comment but have not heard back yet.