2015 is the year I almost bite the dust.
Now it is just a story I tell when people see my body scars, but back then it was definitely one of the most terrifying things I have been through, and I´ve been through some deep stuff.
This post is SFW but it talks about an unpleasant subject and it contains graphic pictures so it is definitely not for the faint of heart. So you might want to skip this post if you are easily shocked.
This post is about the story itself but, I don´t like people who tell stories without visual content because it might be taken as fiction or an exageration. I never exagerate my stories or accomplishments. When I fail at something I write about the failure -
like when I tried searching for crocodiles in Honduras and ended up finding just a few mangrove birds - as passionately as I write about my victores - like that time I found a Pink Boa in the Honduran wilderness -.
That is the reason I am including pictures, graphic pictures, because I don´t like writing about an experience that might be perceived as a lie. As @ocd folks would say, I strive for transparency.
The backstory
In 2015, every saturday/sunday I used to play Flag Football, then the NFL season came and in early October, after every sunday match, if we won the game, the team gathered to eat some BBQ and watch the games on TV. It was a very nice ritual we had.
I enjoy being in charge of the grill, I always have and always will, even after this accident that almost ends up with me kicking the bucket.
But, do you know how accidents happen when you become too comfortable and let your guard down? Well, I´m always watching, being cautious and keeping an eye to my surroundings in order to avoid letting me fall into this kind of situations.
Except this time, handling the fire, trying to watc the game from outside, drinking a beer and talking to my mates was too much for me, I became distracted, I became a target for father destiny.
My friend´s grill was located in the balcony with the garden below, and the TV was facing me from inside the room and I could see through the window. But the thing is, there was no room for a lot of people, just the grill, a table and myself; we used to eat inside so the grill space was perfect for just cooking.
Becoming a human torch
I repeat, this post is SFW but it talks about an unpleasant subject and it contains graphic pictures so it is definitely not for the faint of heart. So you might want to skip this post if you are easily shocked.
The thing about starting a good fire, if you are a stubborn and pride mexican, is to avoid using alcohol or any other substance that might make easier the task. You have to create fire with just a newspaper, a few branches and your lungs as aid; using any other flamable material is too easy for it to be a challenge, and you know how much I love challenges.
But it takes time. A lot of time. Too much time if you already had a few beers and your team is losing.
So my friend, the owner of the house, was a bit drunk and a bit sad because of his team, so he decided to come help me with the grill. I don´t take first mates, at least not with the grill, not because I don´t like sharing but because there is no need nor space to have two people starting the fire. But this time I did.
So my friend got eager and anxious - and hungry - and decided to help lighting the fire. He took a bootle of alchol (the one you use to disinfect scratches) and without telling me, he poured half a bottle into the fire with me right in front of the grill, while I was distracted watching a replay.
So it happened, the fire exploded with so much alcohol being poured into it at once
I was wearing my football uniform, a uniform made of a material between poly rayon and cotton which makes it highly inflammable and it can stick to your skin. With the fire explosion, both my shirt and shorts caught fire immediately.
At one moment I was fine and then I remember I was heard a swosh when fire exploded and I started screaming in a high pitched voice, feeling pain in my whole body.
I started to run inside the house trying, but I was running without a goal. I was just running.
Even though I am a voy scout and was part of the fire bridages in my university, I didn´t have space to drop and roll. Freaking small balcony and then the inside of the house was full of people, chairs and a dog. So no space.
My mind stopped thinking. The pain was too much and my heart was pounding too fast, I thought I was done. So, this is how I go.
First I put the down the flames from my face by covering it with both my hands. It worked but my body was still on fire and I wasn´t reacting to it.
My brother, who happens to play in the same team and is part of the same group of friends, was there. He was the one who reacted faster.
He came running to me and he took my shirt of and then helped me take my shorts off.
I ended up naked in front of everyone. Smelling like fried chicken, with no eyebrows, no eye lashes, at least an inch of hairline gone and a lot of burns in my body.
The aftermath
All of this happened in just a few seconds, perhaps no more than ten seconds. But the damage was done. Someone brought me a towel from the bathroom to cover my naked body and my first thought, a very narcissistic one if you may ask, was:
On my god, my face must look horrible. The few perks my face has must be gone by now, I´m never going to look the same again.
So the first thing I did was go to see myself in the bathroom mirror. I was shacking, in shock and still afraid.
No harm done, just no hair whatsoever in all of my face, my hair looking funny like a crazy person and my lips bleeding as if there was no tomorrow.
But my skin in arms and legs was damaged. It was looking pink and white-ish and it smelled.
We called a doctor friend from uni and she told me to go straight to the ER. And so I did. I drived because if I went to the hospital in the passenger seat, I would be anxious, angry and thinking a lot. I had to put my mind in something else, my brother came with me and I drived with just the towel covering my lower body.
This story is proving to be too long, I want you to read the whole story so I am going to let this story...
...To be continued...
Omg! You've been through a lot 😟. What didn't kill you made you stronger right?
This is an amazing story.... but
Yikes! A horrific and shocking experience, my friend. I am so glad you made it through this trying ordeal. As you are well aware, burns are most painful and longlasting.
My friend Sue was burned badly like you, luckily her husband, a doctor supplied an ointment with silver( silvazine) which may have sped up the healing. I am mentioning this so others may be helped in the future. Did you use this type of ointment?
resteemed.
Ack not much fun at all, someone needed to smother you with towels or something DX And who pours alcohol on fires! Silly friend! What a way to learn! Glad you lived to tell the tale with no major damage by the looks?
Oh my God! The things you've been through fellow Nomad!!!!! At least I know that you are ok now and all this is in the past ;)
Not good, glad you are back and over the trauma of being burnt like that.
just goes to show how disaster and tragedy can suddenly creep up on anyone at anytime. it could have been worse bro. glad to know you're okay now. definitely a very scary experience. thanks for sharing!
You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.
- Mahatma Gandhi