A woman who suffered severe burns to her body, while also losing part of her ear, after a garden bonfire exploded “like a bomb” has described the “devastating” experience.
Siân Morgan, 44, from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, said she rolled around the floor in pain while her husband patted the flames as they engulfed her body.
“My face was black, I didn’t have any skin. I’ve lost part of my ear and I burnt my neck and my arms and my hands – it’s been devastating,” said Ms Morgan.
She suffered severe burns to 10% of her body after the incident in March.
Emergency services warn that firework-related injuries are most common in the weeks close to Bonfire Night, urging people to stay safe.
After the bonfire exploded in her face, Ms Morgan also recalled shivering in shock after being doused with a hose pipe before the ambulance crew arrived to treat her.
“It’s been a hard few months but it’s not over yet. I’ve had surgeries on my throat because that was damaged and I’ve got to have surgery on my mouth.
“It’s been very traumatic,” she said.
She also said the experience had been difficult for her two teenage daughters.
“They had such a fright when they saw me,” she said, adding that she could not “go near the kids’ birthday cakes this year to blow the candles out”.
“I just don’t want to be near anything hot, fires, sparks. It’s completely changed everything,” she said.
Jeremy Yarrow, a consultant in burns surgery at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, where Ms Morgan was treated for her injuries, said injuries from bonfires can be “life threatening”.
“Unfortunately, we see several a week. All burns are preventable,” he said.
Mr Yarrow said that the two weeks either side of 5 November were the busiest time of year for firework-related injuries.
The Welsh Ambulance Service received more than 1,100 emergency 999 calls on 5 November last year, and a similar number of calls on the same day the previous year, according to official data.
The Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Prof Isabel Oliver, said: “It is really important that anybody taking part in these activities takes precautions to stay safe.
“But if you have suffered a burn, the most important thing is to remove the person away from the source of the heat.
She also said it was important to remove clothing or jewellery from the area close to the skin, but not “if it’s stuck to the skin”.
“Then pour [on] cool water for about 20 minutes or so. After that, you can just cover it with a layer of cling film,” she said.
She added that if the burn is “particularly extensive”, or affecting a very large area or very deep, then people should seek advice from the NHS.
South Wales Fire Service said it gets calls to a “disproportionate” number of deliberate fires during the Halloween and Bonfire Night period, which puts “a huge strain” on its resources.
“Those particular resources could be needed in a genuine emergency, so we don’t really want to be tying them up for these unnecessary calls,” said Michael Hill, a station manager for the service.
He said bonfires with hazardous items can also release fumes.
Mr Hill also urged people to be aware of the risk caused by the materials children’s Halloween costumes are made from and to look at “natural products instead of synthetic products” that are less flammable.
“When it comes to using sparklers, they burn at a considerable heat, over a thousand degrees Celsius.
“So just be mindful when kids are operating sparklers near Halloween costumes, that they are monitored at all times.”