I got burned being a typical kid disobeying his parents. We had go-carts at the time, so the gas jug was always lying around. We had some “caps” for a cap gun. I decided to see if I could start a controlled fire by hitting a cap with a hammer. My brother and I were standing behind my Dad’s “work” station-wagon that we used for hauling firewood. I had the hatch up, a block and the gas jug in the back of the car. I poured a small amount of gas on the block and then put a cap on it and hit it with a hammer. I did this 3 or 4 times and nothing happened.
I was going to give up when my younger brother decided he had a better idea…..more gas. He spilled gas all over the place, and then took a full brick of caps out. One hit and the whole back of the car went up. I backed away, and my brother panicked. The gas jug was on fire and he thought it would explode. He reached into the burning car with the claw hammer we where using and hooked the jug. As he tried to pull it out, it melted and he slung it out of the car….and it hit me square in the chest. I was fully engulfed in flames as the gas ran down and all over me.
It was odd, but what immediately came to mind was Nicholas from an old show called Eight Is Enough. There was an episode where he did an after-school message that, if you’re on fire, Stop, Drop, and Roll. I could see Nicholas bigger than life….so I Stopped, Dropped, and Rolled like mad. I must have rolled 50 feet or so.
When I stopped, I was on my back, and all of the fire seemed to be out. I sat up, and noticed my right leg (I was wearing jeans) from the knee down was still ablaze. I got up and began running to the house. It finally went out, and by then Dad heard me screaming and came running out (knocked the door clean off the hinges trying to get outside). He grabbed me, threw me to my Mom, and then put the fire out. As we raced to the hospital, the most ironic of things happened. We had to stop for GAS because the car was empty!!! I’m not kidding.
I had 3rd degree burns from the knee down to my ankle. It took skin grafts to fix it. They cut the skin from my right thigh, “waffled” it, and then stapled it to my lower leg. Now, from the knee down to my ankle is nothing but scar tissue. It’s smooth, but it’s scar tissue none-the-less.
Oddly enough…..I’m still a fire bug, but I do try to be more careful now.
I can relate Keltin spent 2 years in Duke University Hospital from 12 to 14 years old. The first year and a half blind. It wasn't a lot of fun at all.
aww keltin, that makes my heart ache!! I can see a little boy scared to death! I really hope you are a LOT better with fire
Oh my GOD, Keltin - what a horrible story! Damn, if it wasn't for that show, and your immediate memory of it, you would either be dead or terribly disfigured! Jeez, I've got the shivers!
Thank you for sharing such a personal story about yourself. I'm glad you are around to tell it!
Lee
Really? I heard it was a horrible accident with a Swedish pump of some kind....i heard he was having testicular reduction, so i can understand the caution, and extended stay.
(i sure hope he laughs at us when he comes back... positive thinking, ya know?)
i heard he was having testicular reduction, so i can understand the caution, and extended stay.
(i sure hope he laughs at us when he comes back... positive thinking, ya know?)
I got burned being a typical kid disobeying his parents. We had go-carts at the time, so the gas jug was always lying around. We had some “caps” for a cap gun. I decided to see if I could start a controlled fire by hitting a cap with a hammer. My brother and I were standing behind my Dad’s “work” station-wagon that we used for hauling firewood. I had the hatch up, a block and the gas jug in the back of the car. I poured a small amount of gas on the block and then put a cap on it and hit it with a hammer. I did this 3 or 4 times and nothing happened.
I was going to give up when my younger brother decided he had a better idea…..more gas. He spilled gas all over the place, and then took a full brick of caps out. One hit and the whole back of the car went up. I backed away, and my brother panicked. The gas jug was on fire and he thought it would explode. He reached into the burning car with the claw hammer we where using and hooked the jug. As he tried to pull it out, it melted and he slung it out of the car….and it hit me square in the chest. I was fully engulfed in flames as the gas ran down and all over me.
It was odd, but what immediately came to mind was Nicholas from an old show called Eight Is Enough. There was an episode where he did an after-school message that, if you’re on fire, Stop, Drop, and Roll. I could see Nicholas bigger than life….so I Stopped, Dropped, and Rolled like mad. I must have rolled 50 feet or so.
When I stopped, I was on my back, and all of the fire seemed to be out. I sat up, and noticed my right leg (I was wearing jeans) from the knee down was still ablaze. I got up and began running to the house. It finally went out, and by then Dad heard me screaming and came running out (knocked the door clean off the hinges trying to get outside). He grabbed me, threw me to my Mom, and then put the fire out. As we raced to the hospital, the most ironic of things happened. We had to stop for GAS because the car was empty!!! I’m not kidding.
I had 3rd degree burns from the knee down to my ankle (but almost nothing elsewhere because I Stopped, Dropped, and Rolled!). It took skin grafts to fix my leg. They cut the skin from my right thigh, “waffled” it, and then stapled it to my lower leg. Now, from the knee down to my ankle is nothing but scar tissue. It’s smooth, but it’s scar tissue none-the-less.
Oddly enough…..I’m still a fire bug, but I do try to be more careful now.
Keltin and Joe C, both of your times in hospital sound horrific. My longest stay was 31 days. The day they let me go, I got up early, packed and stripped the bed so they couldn't just put me back in it!! LOL
I hope Smokeking gets out soon and that it isn't anything serious. Let's just hope he is getting a bbq tong installed in his hand a la Edward Scissorhands style!! LOL
OMG guys, I'm sorry you went through something so awful and so young!!! Joe, is that the reason for the patch? Would you mind saying what happened? If not, I understand.
Keltin, how did you get burned?
Wow!! Can't think of anything more appropriate to say except "wow"!No problem at all, took a joy ride on my grand father's tractor with 3 other kids. It seems the driver lost control of it taking it over a mountain resulting in my getting my face crushed by it. I lost sight in my eyes almost instantly but that was the least of my problems. Every thing from my eyes down was turned pretty much to powder including my jaws, cheek bones, left eye socket and teeth. I then had to walk 2 miles to get help followed by a trip to a local Virginia hospital to hear them say I wouldn't make it. I was then put in an ambulance and taken to Duke where the head surgeon took control. I was told I would never see again but 18 months later the sight in my right eye just came back. I had already had over 300 operations to put my face back together again. Luckily I was the only one on it that was hurt seriously as I don't think the others would of handled it as well as I did. I continued till I turned 16 and at that point said enough and begin to live for the first time in 4 years of doctors experimenting on me as I really did have a lot of first time procedures performed on me.
Needless to say I've done more since then than the average person can do it two life times with the last 5 years just slowing down to a normal pace. I did ware a glass eye for years until it blew out of my head in Texas where my wife and I got a $25 ticket for walking down the center of interstate 10 looking for it. Texas cops have no sense of humor but neither do doctors as they wanted too much money to make another so I went to wearing a patch.
It was still funny!! However it is scarily true in some places too!!! I never take a premed before an op. Want to make sure the surgeon and I are on the same page BEFORE the scalpel comes out!!!Joe, you just reminded me of an old joke.
Feller's hauled into the emergency room after a terrible accident. Doc takes his pen light out and shines it into the guy's eye. No reaction, so the doc starts to pronounce him dead. Just then, the "corpse" sat up and said; "That's my glass eye, Doc, wanna look in the other one?"