Listener Sean sent us an email with horrifying photos of 4th degree burns he received:
This happened Feb 7th. Due to no insurance, friends help me take care of it and held off going to the burn unit till Feb 28th. This is the progression of 4th degree burns from start to finish after skin graphs. I do Aluminum Anthill Art and aluminum casting, @colonycastings for my Instagram, (or YouTube [anthill art]) if you need a reference. I was making chess pieces, carrying 10lbs of molten aluminum a day after a big rain.
Keep in mind, you don't mix water and molten aluminum as it explodes. I was not pouring an anthill that day, as the ground was soaked. While walking to my pour site, my dog decided it was time to play, jumped in front of me, and tripped me up. I threw the molten aluminum as far as possible when I knew I was going down, but it unfortunately landed in a puddle of water and exploded into the air. I grabbed my dog and threw her as far as possible. (Yes, she is completely fine.)
I, however, didn't quite get away in time!
1 of 10 2 of 10 3 of 10 4 of 10 5 of 10 6 of 10 7 of 10 8 of 10 9 of 10 10 of 10
Here's the finished chess piece he was working on!