A man was left hospitalised after testing out the ‘hoverboard’ he bought for his son as a Christmas present, and when he woke up he thought the year was 2010. Mark Tamlin of Surrey, UK, was disappointed to find that the ‘hoverboard’ – a misnomer adopted by the popular-yet-controversial style of lateral two-wheeled electric scooters – he gifted to his eldest son didn’t work.
His son left disappointed, Tamlin mounted the vehicle to try it on 27th December, but soon after was launched to the ground, his head colliding with the ground. When Tamlin awoke in a hospital bed, he was unable to remember Christmas Day, and told one of his doctors that he thought the year was 2010.
“When I was thrown off it, both my sons were apparently screaming and crying. They were terrified, Tamlin told the Daily Mail. “It’s lucky I was on it and not one of my sons – one of them could have been seriously hurt.”
“I tried to work out what was going on with it so jumped on and had a go myself. The next thing I knew I was in hospital,” Tamlin said. “I don’t know what happened, but my sons told me it started vibrating really fast. Then it threw me up in the air and I hit the back of my head on the ground.”
After an initial boom in popularity, following celebrity endorsements from the likes of Wiz Khalifa, Jessica Alba, and Kendall Jenner, many ‘hoverboards’ were withdrawn from sale after reports of exploding batteries.
“I remember none of the day it happened, parts of Boxing Day and some of Christmas Day are also a bit of a blur,” he added. “The doctor said when I first come in he asked me what year it was and I apparently said 2010.”
Following a recovery period, and despite recurrent headaches, Tamlin has now regained much of his memory.
