College junior burned after cigarette spark ignites hand sanitizer
***Some of the images below may be disturbing to some***
JACKSON, Tenn. – Medina resident Rachel Gamble, along with her daughter, Mississippi State junior, Nicole Esquibel, discussed a major incident that happened to Esquibel on September 2.
She had just arrived home from a basketball game with her boyfriend.
Esquibel was using hand sanitizer while her boyfriend was smoking his cigarette.
What happened next, Esquibel nor her boyfriend couldn’t have imagined.
“Unfortunately, his cigarette, the cherry of it, had flicked off and set my hand on fire. This left one here. And then I went to go put it out on this hand and of course, it caught this hand on fire,” Esquibel said.
Esquibel stated that it was like how the game The Sims looks when they set themselves on fire.
Thankfully, her boyfriend had an idea and acted quickly upon it.
“It had rained the day before and so there was a little puddle in the road and he threw me into that and that’s what finally put me out of fire,” Esquibel said.
Esquibel’s boyfriend rushed her to the hospital.
Some of the moments from that time are not well known to Esquibel. However, there is one doctor that she remembers and appreciates.
“A certain surgeon named Dr. Coleman. He was amazing. My face, as you can see, there’s probably some red blotches. But other than that, he’s done an amazing job,” Esquibel said.
Esquibel stated that her face was three times the size in the beginning and that she looks to continue this journey for about another year.
“We got a couple more surgeries, laser surgeries to help with scarring, and I’m just hoping to get done with it soon,” Esquibel said.
Gamble stated this has been a long journey for them as a family.
Gamble just wants others to be aware so that they will not have to face this in their family one day.
“People just don’t think about what can happen. I mean she doesn’t smoke, but had she been around anybody else that couldn’t have helped her to get to a puddle, she could’ve died out there,” Gamble said.
Esquibel has been through four skin grafts and 10 surgeries.
She hopes this story will keep others safe and in the know.
Although hand sanitizer kills germs, it’s a category one flammable liquid that should be handled with caution.
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