Mike Holt Enterprises Electrical News Source

Teen Electrocuted in Bathtub - with Cell Phone

Fourteen year old Madison Coe was electrocuted while using her cellphone in the bathtub. Police in Lovington, New Mexico have released the last picture she took before she died.

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CBS News reported the tragic death of a teen doing what is not uncommon for people to do - use a cellphone while in the bathtub.The photograph that the police released shows a charger plugged into a frayed extension cord next to the bathtub. Police believe Madison sent that photo to a friend minutes before she died. She sent the photo with the message: "When you use and extension cord so you can plug your phone in while you're in the bath."

While it was originally thought that the teenager had dropped her charging phone into the tub, police now say that the phone was not immersed in the water - they believe she died after touching the frayed extension cord she was using to charge the phone, and that she was most likely unaware of the damage.

Madison had just graduated from the eighth grade and was speding the summer in New Mexico with her father before starting her freshman year of high school in Texas. She was a basketball player, and played the tuba in her school band.

The post on Facebook continues to be shared, opening up many eyes to the power of electricity, and the danger of plugging in any electrical appliance near water. Her family wants to use this terrible tragedy to bring awareness to these dangers.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is reportedly investigating to find out of any products played a role in her death.

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Comments

  • Press the 'Test' button.

    Mike Holt  August 2 2017, 6:41 pm EDT
    Reply to this comment

    • Reply from: Mike Holt   August 2 2017, 8:19 pm EDT
    Just pressing the test button only tests the mechanical part of the GFI. How do you test the electrical part?

    IOW The Trip Level...

    Job Site Temp Service need to be checked everyday for Trip Level IMO.
    Reply to Mike Holt

  • Living in NM, I've seem even more coverage of this sad tragedy, yet no definitive info on whether or not a functional GFCI existed. Between paranoia regarding all things electrical and healthy fear of substandard work, this is a teachable moment for our trade/profession.

    Tom Hunter  August 1 2017, 5:59 pm EDT
    Reply to this comment

  • And even if you have GFCI outlets, they need need to be tested for proper operation.

    David Ford  August 1 2017, 9:26 am EDT
    Reply to this comment

  • Do they know definitively whether or not the outlet was GFCI? There was a news report shared on Facebook that showed a GFCI but my guess is that it was a re-enactment.

    Ira  August 1 2017, 9:10 am EDT
    Reply to this comment

  • After hearing the news on this terrible accident I think I heard that the outlet used was not a GFCI outlet.It is sad we need to educate the public as much as possible to install GFCI in areas per the NEC. Prayers to her family an her.The story makes me feel terrible a life taken like this.

    Rich  August 1 2017, 3:45 am EDT
    Reply to this comment

  • After hearing the news on this terrible accident I think I heard that the outlet used was not a GFCI outlet.It is sad we need to educate the public as much as possible to install GFCI in areas per the NEC. Prayers to her family an her.The story makes me feel terrible a life taken like this.

    Rich  August 1 2017, 3:45 am EDT
    Reply to this comment

  • How sad. I once had a customer with a terminal illness call and ask if he would take a hair dryer into the bathtub would that take care of things for him. I told him it might but then again it might not and please do not try it. I called a hospice and his wife. Fortunately he did not try.

    Bill  August 1 2017, 12:25 am EDT
    Reply to this comment

  • From what I heard on the news there were no gfci outlets in the bathroom. The presence of a working one might have saved her life.

    Prayers for her and her family

    Don Hartley  July 31 2017, 10:58 pm EDT
    Reply to this comment

  • Too many stuff that was omitted from the head line! Now we have a frayed extension cord...that is the culprit - not the cell phone! The fact that the victim was in the bathtub...made her the perfect victim...IT NOT AN ELECTRICAL NEWS STORY!

    George B  July 31 2017, 9:15 pm EDT
    Reply to this comment

    • Reply from: Blake   August 1 2017, 9:25 am EDT
    But leaving out the real details makes for sensational news stories. I'm sorry to say that that is the state of most news agencies these days. They are not entirely to blame; the consumers have an appetite for quick bites of news that are easy to digest whether right or wrong it doesn't matter - it makes us feel like we are a part of something larger. There are many potentially dangerous things we live with that should be better explained in school or by parents, but electricity (which is a technology that is never going to go anywhere) should be the top priority. People need to respect it but mainly understand it.
    Reply to Blake

    Reply from: Bob   August 1 2017, 2:13 pm EDT
    Yes Blake, Your point can be applied to all the news. No details means not properly investigated and without details multiple contradictory conclusions can be drawn. People who have some agenda like a lawyer arguing in court leave out details intentionally. Every major news source and every government agency has an agenda. The intent is to manipulate and not inform.
    Reply to Bob

  • GFCI?

    Bob  July 31 2017, 8:26 pm EDT
    Reply to this comment

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