A physical therapist in Arizona died after receiving burns from a flash fire inside a hyperbaric chamber.
Walter Foxcroft, 43, was found dead inside a hyperbaric chamber by first responders at his medical facility, Navasu Health and Hyperbarics, in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, around 11 p.m. local time on July 9, officials said.
The Lake Havasu City Fire Department said in a July 10 statement that it was dispatched along with the Lake Havasu City Police Department to respond to a report of a burn-related medical emergency. Foxcroft was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement said, after an apparent flash fire occurred in the chamber while the physical therapist was inside.
Hyperbaric chambers are pressurized cylinders that administer high-pressure oxygen therapy. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the therapy treatment involves breathing 100% oxygen while inside the chamber, where increased air pressure helps the lungs collect more oxygen.
A hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber tank, used to deliver more oxygen to tissues.
More: What is a hyperbaric chamber? What to know about the therapy
It has been used for decades to treat divers suffering from decompression sickness, known as the bends, and can be used to help treat several other conditions, such as tissue infections and poisoning, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Officials confirmed that no one else was injured in the July 9 fire, and the incident is under investigation.
The Arizona man’s death is not the first hyperbaric chamber-related incident this year. In January, a 5-year-old boy died after the hyperbaric chamber he was in caught on fire at the Oxford Center in Troy, Michigan.
Foxcroft co-founded Havasu Health and Hyperbarics in 2024, according to a press release announcing the new facility. He was a graduate of the University of Arizona, where he served as the university mascot, according to his brief biography on the facility’s website, and earned a clinical doctorate in physical therapy at Touro University in Nevada.
Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arizona therapist Foxcroft dies after hyperbaric chamber burns
