A 10-year-old boy was left unrecognisable after a can of insect spray thrown in a fire pit exploded on him at a party.
Joey Kirk was sitting a few feet away from the pit in a garden when another child tossed a flammable bug repellant can into it.
His mother, Kayla Morgans, 30, was inside when she heard guests panicking.
‘By that time we were all running outside because one of the adults told us there was a child on fire,’ said Morgans, according to The US Sun.
‘Everyone rushed outside but Joey had taken off running. I saw him and his face was completely charred black…
‘I felt straight-up terror, you couldn’t even recognise him. I was screaming, “Call 911.”‘
The mother from Suffolk, Virginia, said everything in the horrific incident happened ‘so fast’.
‘One of our close family friends got to him immediately and smothered himself with his own body, putting it out,’ Morgans said.
‘His full face and hands were burnt, his clothes protected him somewhat.’
Joey was rushed by helicopter to Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, where he was placed on a breathing tube as doctors burns on his face and hands.
‘He couldn’t breathe on his own without life support,’ Morgans said.
‘With facial burns, it can burn your oesophagus and swell your throat so he had to be on life support.’
Joey had burns across 12% of his body, which is considered severe.
He was hospitalized for a week and then discharged and made a full recovery since the incident happened a few weeks before Christmas.
Joey has scarring from new skin but only has long-term scarring on his neck and ear. He must constantly wear sunscreen.
‘The hospital burns team was amazing,’ Morgans said. ‘Within two weeks, he looked like himself again after going in unrecognisable.’
The mother is committed to raising awareness on the dangers of flammable products interacting with fire puts.
‘I did know these cans were explode-able but it was never one of those where I thought to warn my children,’ she said.
‘We are beyond blessed because this could’ve had a totally different ending.’
Joey was burned about a year-and-a-half after an 11-year-old Connecticut boy suffered third-degree burns on his body after apparently kicking a flaming football with neighborhood children.
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