Most of us don’t think about it, but being paralyzed comes with unique challenges—beyond just losing movement. Imagine not being able to feel your legs. What happens if you get hurt? How long could an injury go unnoticed? One UK veteran found out the hard way when his brand-new Ford heated seat burned his buttocks—down to the bone—during a three-hour road trip.
Now, he has months to heal and think. Ever the optimist, he wrote on Reddit: “The only upside is that I can’t feel pain there, and I have loads of books to catch up with!” But one thought won’t leave his mind. “Ford literally approved this vehicle for sale to people with disabilities!” Now, the question is: will they take responsibility?
A life rebuilt
Reddit user 4G_Downbytheriver has been paraplegic since a 2004 military accident. He doesn’t let it stop him. “I’ve always lived independently and taken very good care of myself,” he said. He kayaks, skis, even paraglides. “For paragliding, I have a special harness and great people to throw me off the mountain!”
But paraplegia comes with risks. Pressure sores can turn deadly. He knew that. “I check my skin every day with a mirror or phone camera,” he said, quipping that his routine includes taking a “belfie.”
Why is he so careful? Because he knows how quickly his health could deteriorate. “I saw guys in the hospital with open, weeping sores that never heal… it terrified me.” For 15 years, he avoided them. Then, he bought a 2019 Ford Focus Active X.
When a heated seat hurts
That day, he drove three hours. His heated seat was on low. “I could feel the heat on my lumbar region,” he said. “Never thought it would be able to burn me.” But something was not right. “I had an open-book pelvic fracture when I was hurt. My pelvis is tilted down to one side. That side bears all the weight.”
That night, he checked his skin. His worst nightmare stared back at him. “What initially looked superficial developed a softball-sized blister overnight,” he said. “It burst to show something looking like an effect from The Walking Dead.”
At the ER, even the staff were horrified. “The first nurse that saw it stepped back in horror!” he said. “Two weeks later, the first layers of dead tissue are starting to lift. Now I just have to worry about osteomyelitis.” He’ll be lying on his stomach, unable to use his wheelchair, for three months.
Should Ford be held responsible for heated seat burns?
The car was brand-new. The veteran bought it through a program for disabled drivers. “Ford literally approved this vehicle for sale to people with disabilities!” he said. He said of legal action, “That’s something I’m looking into because it’s pretty messed up that this can happen… in a brand-new car.”
He’s not alone. “I’ve done some google-fu and found reports of similar things happening before in other cars… but nothing more than initial reports. So either nothing happened, or NDAs were involved.”
