Some say it's the perfect way to end the day this time of year, sitting in front of a warm bonfire with friends, but bonfires, especially those fueled with fire gel, can be dangerous.
It's the story of one local woman, Gina Vandewalle. Last summer Vandewalle and her family tried to re-fuel flames by pouring gel on what was supposed to be an extinguished fire. The ceramic pot that held the gel exploded, and flaming fuel hit Vandewalle, leaving her with third degree burns over most of her body.
Now, one year later, she's changed but still healing. She tells us some of the physical wounds have healed since then, but she's still dealing with a lot of pain to this day, her voice is forever changed from the damaging flames, and the emotional scars are still very real.
The fire gels responsible have been recalled nationwide, but Gina is still working to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.
"I see myself as a monster almost because when little kids see me, they stare or they run," she says.
Gina tells TV6 she still struggles everyday, mentally and physically, since her accident. She's suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, can't be by fires to this day and is on painkillers to help her cope.
"I still have nightmares, you never forget what happened to you," Vandewalle says, "You wake up in the morning, every morning and you look in the mirror and cry, and remember the fire; I go through a depression every morning when I see myself."
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission says 65 people nationwide, including Gina, have been burned similarly by these gels. Two people even died now Gina's working to make sure number 66 doesn't ever happen.
"My friend heard somebody say, ‘Well I'm not going to not use it just because one lady didn't know how to use it,'" she says, "The truth is this one lady that did use it, used it correctly, and it still exploded."
"If me going through this pain can teach 100 people about this, I'm OK with carrying the burden as long as I know somebody else has been saved," Gina says.
Though the scars might never go away, she says she's learning to feel beautiful from the inside out.
"I never knew the girl inside, and I never knew who she is and I've really learned that I can be that person no matter what I look like on the outside," Vandewalle says.
Even though Gina has come a long way in a year, she tells us there's still so much more to go. She's up for three rounds of surgeries starting this September, and after that, months of healing and therapy. Meanwhile, there is a lawsuit pending for what happened to her.
