Burnt policeman faces 6-month recovery

The Te Anau community has rallied around the family of a local policeman who is in a ‘‘world of pain’’ after suffering burns to 18 per cent of his body.

Constable Kris Dale was flown to Christchurch Hospital on April 9 after catching fire from a gas cooker he was using to boil a stag’s head in his garage.

Dale’s wife, Jamie, said he was a keen hunter and was boiling down the head as he wanted to display it with the antlers.

It was a task he had done before, but when hearing the gas bottle ‘‘flare’’ he had gone out to the garage to turn it off, but was engulfed in flames he had not seen, his wife said. She understood the gas bottle had been on fire.

‘‘He came running back past the house, we saw him on fire.’’

He ripped off his T-shirt and got into the cold shower.

But unknown to her, he then ran back out to the garage, was thrown a fire extinguisher by a neighbour, and extinguished burning blankets inside the garage, she said.

She couldn’t work out how her husband, a former volunteer firefighter, had extinguished the flames with his hands being so badly burnt.

He suffered burns to his hands, arms, chest, neck and face, with his hands the most badly affected.

Medics had told her he may be in Christchurch Hospital for four to six weeks, as he requires skin grafts, before being transferred to a hospital closer to home. His full recovery could take six months.

It was a tough time but she was also feeling incredibly lucky and overwhelmed by the support they had received from the community.

Her husband was a communityminded person and had raised funds for others when they had lived in the North Island, but they had never expected to be on the receiving end.

Jamie and the couple’s four children, aged 10 months to eight, are staying near the hospital in Christchurch.

‘‘He will be okay . . . he just wants to do everything he can to get better for his family.’’

A Givealittle page has been set up for Dale.