Balloon selfie... then horror as 33,000 volts torched me
Woman tells of birthday treat terror
I thought I would die – my body was numb & I thought ‘I’m on fire’ REBECCA FRY TALKING ABOUT HER ORDEAL
A YOUNG woman smiles for a selfie in a hot air balloon moments before it hit power cables and plummeted 150ft to the ground.
Rebecca Fry, 22, suffered horrific burns when 33,000 volts powered through her body.
The collision sent flames shooting into the basket, which was 50ft up and soared a further 100ft into the air before plunging to earth.
Rebecca, speaking about her ordeal for the first time, said: “The basket burst into flames and the intense heat forced the balloon to shoot up, the heat was making it rise.
“I was trying to scream but I couldn’t open my mouth as the electricity was pressing my teeth together. I looked down at my legs and they looked like cooked chicken because the skin was all hanging off.
“My leggings were burnt off and melted into my body. I thought I was going to die. My body became numb and I thought ‘I’m on fire’. I could feel electricity going through me and I couldn’t see or hear anything,.”
Rebecca, a customer services adviser from Northampton, managed to call her parents, who sent paramedics to the scene. She was airlifted to hospital where she spent four weeks being treated at a specialist burns unit.
The 64-year-old male pilot who was with her for the trip in Earls Barton, Northants, last May escaped injury.
Rebecca, whose flight was a birthday gift from her fiance, was recently reunited with Rupert Hurry, the air ambulance doctor who helped save her life. She said: “When Rupert came to the scene, I remember looking into his eyes and feeling safe.
“Things have changed for me, and I have come to accept that.
“Things that weren’t important to me before are now and I am treasuring every moment of life.”