‘Miracle’ saves young teen from turning into ‘human torch’

13-year-old boy suffers serious injuries after spray deodorant thrown onto sidewalk explodes.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
surgery doctors transplant slicing 311 (photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
surgery doctors transplant slicing 311
(photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
Tomer Granot, a 13-year-old boy from Kfar Bilu, threw a can of a popular brand of spray deodorant onto the sidewalk outside his home as a prank and ended up with serious burns on his face and body, being treated at Kaplan Medical Center on Sunday night.
Dr. Uri Shulman, a plastic surgeon at the Rehovot hospital, said it was a “miracle” that the flames did not set his clothing afire, as he would then have turned into a “human torch.” During the next few days it will be decided whether the teen requires skin transplants, Shulman said.
Tomer’s mother Michal urged parents to take care that labelled instructions on such products be observed.
The seventh grader was at home with his older sister and a good friend when the incident took place.
“I was curious what would happen if the deodorant hit the floor,” recalled Tomer. “It did not make any contact with fire, so why would it be dangerous, as it was said as a warning on the label?,” he asked.
Fire erupted, and his hair and face were burnt. “I was very scared, and it burned. My friend was hurt a bit from the fire and pieces from the container. My sister immediately called our father, who rushed home and took me to Kaplan.”
The father, Ron Granot, said Tomer’s face, an arm and a leg were red. The staff gave us confidence he would survive it. Now they will help us with the rehabilitation process and the return to normal life.”
Shulman said that a significant amount of the boy’s body was burned and that even his eyelashes and eyebrows caught fire. Fortunately, his throat did not suffer burns, which would have threatened his life.
He was treated with creams, bandaged and given a high-protein diet to nourish the skin and vitamins. The physician said that apparently, alcoholic substances in the deodorant caused it to burn when it hit the pavement.


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