I woke up in hospital six weeks after a party to be told I’d burnt HALF my body off – my ex found me engulfed in flames
A MOTHER-OF-THREE has been left scarred for life after falling into a fire pit.
Alexa Osterman, 43, suffered 60 per cent burns to her body when she fell asleep at a party.
She woke up in hospital after being in a coma for six weeks.
Alexa, from San Diego, US, doesn’t remember how she fell into the bonfire and is still searching for answers.
Now she’s speaking out to raise awareness for other burns survivors.
Alexa says: “Being burnt was the worst time of my life.
“I’ve never known pain like it.
“But I survived and am fighting on.”
On July 4, 2020, Alexa attended a party with her ex-husband and children.
When she arrived, she was handed an alcoholic shot which she drank.
Over the next two hours, she took pictures of the partygoers and chatted with various guests, enjoying a couple of drinks.
In the early hours of the next morning, she woke up on the homeowner’s porch.
Alexa says: “I had no idea how I got there.
“The place was deserted and I couldn’t get back in the house, despite knocking on the front door and calling friends on my phone.”
She noticed the open fire pit in the garden was still glowing, and feeling chilly in her linen dress, she added another piece of wood and sat in a chair nearby.
Soon, Alexa fell asleep.
The next thing she remembers was waking up in Legacy Emanuel Medical Centre, Portland.
She’d been in an induced coma for six weeks.
NO MEMORY
At first, Alexa thought she’d been in a car accident as she had no memory of the night.
But a nurse informed her she’d been burnt 60 per cent of her body after falling into a fire pit and had been rushed to hospital by her ex-husband after he found her in flames.
She says: “I was so shocked. I wasn’t drunk so had no idea how I ended up there.”
Alexa had undergone an emergency tracheotomy, where a tube was inserted through an incision in her neck to save her life, allowing her to breathe.
But she was left barely able to speak.
My memory was so patchy, but I knew I wasn’t drunk that night, so I kept playing over different scenarios. I still couldn’t believe it’d happened
Alexa
A surgeon explained how they’d performed 12 skin grafts and managed to save her nipples as her chest had been badly burnt.
Yet she’d lost part of her ears – she was distraught.
Alexa endured agonising daily skin scrubs to clean her wounds.
Two weeks later, when Alexa finally saw herself, she was horrified.
She explains: “My once long brown hair, down to my elbows, had been singed off. And I had bald patches on my head.
“There were red raw scars all over my face and chest.”
Then, in October of that year, she underwent surgery to remove her tracheotomy tube, before being transferred to a rehab centre.
TERRIFYING FLASHBACKS
There, she learnt to walk, eat, and dress herself again with the help of physiotherapists.
After a month she was finally discharged and moved in with a friend.
Yet Alexa suffered awful flashbacks.
She says: “My memory was so patchy, but I knew I wasn’t drunk that night, so I kept playing over different scenarios. I still couldn’t believe it’d happened.
“I wondered if my drink had been spiked.”
Police never investigated the scene because it had already been cleaned up by the time they arrived.
To date, Alexa has endured 21 operations.
During one eight-hour procedure this February, surgeons grafted healthy skin from her back onto her chest and neck to un-fuse her chin.
ROAD TO RECOVERY
Now she’s hoping to undergo reconstruction on her ears and a hair transplant to her scalp.
She says: “The truth is I’ll need medication and treatment until the day I die.
“But I’m happy my hair is growing back.”
Now Alexa is working as a waitress in a restaurant which has helped with her self-confidence.
She adds: “I want other survivors to know they can go on to rebuild their lives.
“There is life after burns, you can get through it.”
How to treat burns and scalds
Burns are damage to the skin usually caused by heat.
They can be very painful and may cause:
- Red or peeling skin
- Blisters
- Swelling
- White or charred skin
The amount of pain you feel is not always related to how serious the burn is.
Even a very serious burn may be relatively painless.
Treating burns and scalds
To treat a burn, follow the first aid advice below:
- Immediately get the person away from the heat source
- Remove any clothing or jewellery
- Cool the burn with cool or lukewarm running water for 20 to 30 minutes
- Make sure the person keeps warm
- After cooling the burn, cover the burn by placing a layer of cling film over it
- Use painkillers
- Raise the affected area if possible
- If it’s an acid or chemical burn, dial 999
When to get medical attention
Depending on how serious a burn is, it may be possible to treat it at home.
For minor burns, keep the burn clean and do not burst any blisters that form.
More serious burns require professional medical attention.
You should go to a hospital A&E department for:
- All chemical and electrical burns
- Large or deep burns – any burn bigger than the injured person’s hand
- Burns that cause white or charred skin – any size
- Burns on the face, neck, hands, feet, any joints or genitals
If someone has breathed in smoke or fumes, they should also get medical attention.