Irmo woman shares message after recovery from explosion
An Irmo woman wants you to know what she wish she had known before she was caught, suddenly, in a flash explosion at her house
IRMO, S.C. (WOLO) — An Irmo woman wants you to know what she wish she had known before she was caught, suddenly, in a flash explosion at her house.
28-year-old Meredith Martinez and her son, six-year-old Landon, have been living in a hotel since the fire on October 19. Martinez has come miles in recovering from the second and third degree burns sustained in the explosion.
Martinez says she was in the downstairs bathroom, getting ready for the day, when she went to light a candle. Suddenly, the room exploded.
“I had to quickly recall, what do you do when you’re on fire, and finally I was like, stop drop and roll.”
Martinez immediately left the bathroom, running down the hall to grab her son, who was untouched in the living room. The two escaped the house, and within 25 minutes, Martinez was airlifted to the Augusta Burn Center. Over the next week-and-a-half, doctors performed three surgeries on Martinez, repairing the burns to her face, neck, hands and legs.
Usually, Martinez wears contacts, but for some reason, on October 19, she did not.
“I just happened to take them out, and was wearing my glasses,” she says. “And the doctor at the burn center told me, had I been wearing contacts, they would have had to surgically remove them, and I would have been blind and maimed forever.”
It’s just one of many little things, Martinez says, that was on her side that day.
The explosion was triggered by a gas leak, from a three-quarter inch hole under the house. There was no sulfur-like smell to tip them off. The hole, was caused by a small plumbing leak, dripping down onto the line.
“You may check it on either side, the connections may be great, but you’ve got to check that line in between,” Martinez says. “The stuff you don’t see is important as well as the stuff you do see.”
Martinez has seen what can happen, and she is turning her miracle into a lesson for you and your loved ones.
“The most important thing is we’re all alive,” she says. “We’re here, and I can get better.”
