Family of Firestone teenager burned in Cambodia gas explosion raising money

The family of an 18-yearold Firestone woman severely burned in a gas station explosion in Cambodia is raising $250,000 to fly her back to a Colorado hospital for skin grafts and intensive medical care, news reports and family members said.

Abbey Alexander, a teacher at IQ International in the city of Siem Reap, was riding a motorbike with a friend to work on Aug. 14 when an LPG filling station exploded in front of them, hurling Alexander and her friend from the motorcycle, an article in Cambodia News English said.

The explosion killed one person and injured Alexander, her friend and 10 other people, the article said.

Alexander suffered burns on more than 35 percent of her body, according to a GoFundMe account set up by her family.

Alexander had been living in Siem Reap since January with her parents, her brother and her fiancé, the Longmont Times-Call reported.

“She’s been transported to a hospital with a better burn unit, and the costs will add up quickly,” Alexander’s mother, Erin, wrote on her GoFundMe account.

Alexander is under sedation for pain while undergoing daily surgery to scrub her burns, her mother wrote.

“Abbey seems to be in stable condition now. Her white blood cell count has risen and her organ functions are all good,” she wrote. “We are just waiting for word that the transport plane is heading this way.”

Alexander’s GoFundMe account had received about $37,000 in donations as of early Tuesday evening.