Topics: US News, World News, Health, Reddit
Warning: This article contains graphic images and video which some readers may find distressing.
A woman who suffered catastrophic third-degree burns across almost half of her body has revealed what she looks like six years on from the accident.
Abigail Alexander from Ohio, US, was just 18 years old when she was caught in an explosion that nearly claimed her life.
The-then teen and her British colleague were riding a motorcycle together in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in 2019 where the pair worked as teachers, when a gas station erupted into a giant fireball.
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A tanker truck transporting 440 gallons of fuel ignited, injuring more than a dozen people including Abigail and Zoe Eleftheriou, 22, from Kent.
The aftermath left the youngster with severe burns across 40 percent of her body, including second and third-degree burns to her face.
She's since had skin grafts and countless surgeries during her bumpy road to recovery and now has dropped her dramatic physical transformation in a series of images on Reddit.
The now 23-year-old mom rejoiced it's been 'almost six years post burn!' in the caption of her post which contained six images of her journey from the moment she was raced to hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries to the present day.
The first three images show the harrowing extent of her burns from her hospital bed, with her hair cut back short and entire body wrapped from head to toe, and even fingers, in bandages, alongside IV drips, oxygen masks and an abundance of wires.
In one image, she can be seen smiling, despite how badly burned her face and forehead appeared at the time.
The slides then jump to recent pics of Abbey now, the first sitting in a boat and sporting denim shorts and a bikini while another shows her grinning with her baby girl.
She now rocks long luscious locks and while some scarring is visible on her arms and legs, her face appears to have emerged unscathed.
The self-proclaimed 'crispy mom' explained on Reddit how after the accident she was in a coma 'for pretty much all the scary parts' and had her hardest days while recovering back in the US.
"It definitely felt like I was missing out on life," Abbey recalled about her recovery. "I went from being gorgeous and unstoppable to being burnt, head shaved, and in an unhappy marriage."
"I'm happy I've moved on from 2/3 of those things. I would go through all that pain again though to end up where I am now.
"I'm happily engaged, I have the most amazing daughter and life is better than it’s ever been."
"Relearning to walk was a b****," she continued. "But overall I recovered ridiculously quick! I have my hard days still but I’m just trying to keep going forward."
As for her injuries, Abbey said she was 'super splotchy' for the first two years but now has a 'smallish scar' on her face while describing her arms as 'crispy as hell.'
"My left leg is one giant skin graft, I have a hole in my right leg (I make strangers take shots out of it at the bar) and both my feet are burned! I also have scars from the donor sights on both my thighs, my whole back, and my lower stomach," Abbey added.
Still, the mom looks completely unrecognisable now and has even celebrated herself for her 'blow up glow up'.
"Something about seeing my baby with my skin grafts just makes me emotional. I never imagined I would experience happiness like this again," she added.
Abbey has now written a book about her experience, which you can pre-order here.
