This is a horror story for the coronavirus era if we’ve ever heard one!
A single mother of three is suffering from severe burns after an incident with off-brand hand sanitizer (photos below, but CONTENT WARNING for graphic images.).
After saying goodnight to her three daughters, Kate Wise put on hand sanitizer (which she bought to keep safe from COVID-19) and went to light a candle when her hand caught fire. In an incredibly unfortunate series of events, the flames then reached the sanitizer bottle itself, causing “a bomb-like explosion.”
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Wise explained to local CBS affiliate KHOU:
“It can be something as small as lighting a candle. Because of the hand sanitizer, it just lit my whole … everywhere I had hand sanitizer on my hand, it just lit my hand with fire. … And it obviously went all over my face. And, in like a matter of five seconds, my whole body was just consumed in flames.”
According to KHOU, Wise managed to shed her burning clothes and evacuate her pets and daughter, who is disabled, from the burning building while her other daughters ran to a neighbor’s to get help.
Wise said:
“It’s something that you never want your kids to see. Like, you just being up in flames so I think that part kind of killed me just because it’s something I never wanted them to have to go through.”
No kidding!
We can’t even imagine what an awful experience that must have been for all of them.
Wise ended up in the hospital with second- and third-degree burns over her entire body. Her friend Kathryn Bonesteel created a GoFundMe page to support Wise and her family’s needs. Describing the incident, Bonesteel wrote:
“Kate is in ICU in Austin, Texas. She’s lost her home, her kids are traumatized and she needs major reconstructive surgery. A single mom, she’s lost most of her furniture to smoke damage and other possessions to the fire.”
And they included a photo of the burns. AGAIN, be warned these are graphic:
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While the GoFundMe page is raising money, Wise also hopes to raise awareness so that others might avoid suffering the same fate. Bonesteel shared on her behalf:
“COVID-19 has brought many unsafe products to our shelves. Many of which have not been properly tested and are not safe. Be careful of what you put on your body. Make sure what you are using is FDA approved.
Kate trusted the product because she purchased it from a store she trusted. Just because you bought something from a store you trust, doesn’t mean what they’re selling is trusted or safe.”
That’s VERY good advice — with no clear end in sight to the coronavirus pandemic, there’s sure to be plenty of snake oil salesmen trying to take advantage of our fear to pass off ineffective or even dangerous products (like, ahem, the President of the United States). FDA approved is definitely the way to go. But remember Perezcious readers: all hand sanitizer has (or should have!) alcohol in it, so while this may be a freak accident, it’s just good practice to keep sanitizing and open flames separate.
We’re wishing Kate a speedy recovery, and will be keeping her and her daughters in our thoughts!
[Image via Kathryn Bonesteel/GoFundMe & WENN/Avalon]
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