A woman accidentally set her face on fire after her hair caught alight while she was using her kitchen hob to light a cigarette.
Louise Tanner wanted a smoke but couldn't find her lighter, so decided to use the hob on her cooker. As she leaned over to light her cigarette, her hair, which was covered in hair spray, caught fire.
The mum-of-two, from West Sussex, was left with third-degree burns on her ears, head, face and neck and has been left with permanent scars.
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Louise said: "That day was the worst day of my life but I'm just thankful to be alive.
"I'm now speaking out to raise awareness for burn victims and let them know there is a light at the end of the tunnel."
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Opening up about the incident, Louise said: "I clicked on the gas ring to light the cigarette, but as I leaned over to take a puff, my hair went up in flames.
"I began running in circles around the kitchen, howling in pain. The flames quickly spread from my head down to my face and neck.
"I kept screaming for help before desperately ripping my hair out from the roots."
After several minutes, Louise was able to run the cold water tap and plunge her head underneath and cried with relief.
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Louise says after the shocking ordeal she was exhausted so went upstairs to lie down, but hours later her now ex-husband returned home to find her face had been severely burnt.
He called an ambulance and Louise was rushed to hospital where she was told she had third-degree burns, which caused her entire face to swell up.
She said: "I felt like someone had beaten me up. Thankfully, a nurse appeared and gave me a dose of morphine.
"After I was bandaged up, two nurses used paper-clips to open my eyes so they could prise out my contact lenses."
The next morning Louise saw how badly burnt her face was for the first time.
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She said: "I felt so ugly. It was like I was in a nightmare and I couldn't wake up."
Louise was transferred to a specialist burn unit at East Grinstead Hospital where doctors told her she would be receiving a donor skin graft.
Louise said: "After the hour-long operation, I felt sick. My face looked like a quilt, it was devastating.
"I couldn't stop thinking about how all of this could've been avoided if I'd just been more careful."
Just two days after the ordeal, Louise was able to get home and set about trying to get her life back to normal, but says that while out and about people would stare at her.
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She said: "I wanted to be angry but I couldn't. It was normal to be curious, I'd have done the same."
But now, just over a year later, Louise's face has almost completely healed - although she still has nerve damage and has to be careful going out in direct sunlight.
Louise says it's 'amazing' how well she's healed and thanked the medics who worked on her.
She said: "I can't thank the doctors and surgeons enough."
Featured Image Credit: HotSpot MediaTopics: UK News