Jensen was living the dream chasing waves on a solo surfing trip in Indonesia. But one afternoon a freak accident changed everything: ‘Am I going to die?
A 19-year-old Australian surfer who was travelling abroad alone for the first time has suffered severe burns to 13 percent of his body after a boat explosion in Indonesia.
Jensen Kirby was on vacation on the idyllic Telos Islands off the west coast of Sumatra when he decided to take a speedboat to a surfing spot on August 11.
The Perth teenager said he was enveloped in a red-hot ‘fireball’ after the skipper mishandled a boat battery, causing it to ignite into petrol flames.
“The mechanic was putting the battery in and connecting it. He connected the negative to the positive, so it was wrong, and as soon as it clicked, it sparked and ignited the gasoline fumes in the boat,” Mr. Kirby told the ABC.
‘All I saw was the spark and the next moment all I could see was the flames all around me and I thought, “Oh my God, what on earth am I going to do?” I was standing in the middle of the fire.
‘I remember hearing this big whooshing sound go past me. It was weird, like something out of a movie.
“I turned around and jumped straight into the water because I was so scared. I tried to get as far away as possible, in case there was another explosion.”
Mr Kirby said it felt like ‘sunburn times 100’ and he ran straight back into the sea to get relief, but unfortunately his leg hit the sand and ripped his skin off.
Jensen Kirby, 19, suffered burns to 13 percent of his body after the speedboat he was on exploded near the Telos Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on August 11.
Mr Kirby (pictured) was on his first solo trip abroad when the incident occurred
The Perth teenager (pictured) said he was enveloped in a red-hot ‘fireball’ after a skipper mishandled a boat battery and fuel flames erupted
“It was like someone was pulling paper off a stack of papers, it was pretty crazy,” he said.
Mr Kirby ran to the showers, got cold water and called his mother in Perth.
“I said, ‘Mom, please don’t panic,’ and she said, ‘What happened?’ and I said, ‘The boat just exploded,’ and she panicked,” he recalled.
The young surfer suffered severe burns to his face, chest, arms, hands and legs.
Mr Kirby said he was particularly concerned about how difficult it would be to travel from the remote island to hospital before his burns became infected.
During the 45-minute boat ride to a medical station — during which the mechanic escaped the fire largely unharmed — Kirby said he kept himself from passing out by taking deep breaths.
“Am I going to live? Am I going to live but not be able to surf anymore? Am I going to have to have an amputation… because of an infection? And then I had the thought, ‘Am I going to die?’ It’s a crazy, crazy experience,” he said. 7News.
At the medical center, the talented surfer was given tablets and his wounds were dressed with gauze and cream.
Later he woke up and saw that his whole body was covered in blisters.
The young surfer suffered severe burns to his face, chest, arms, hands and legs (photo)
The picturesque Telo Islands off the west coast of Sumatra are a popular surfing destination
Fortunately, Mr Kirby was able to get a plane ticket to Padang in Indonesia and then on to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, where his ‘legendary’ mother was waiting for him.
Their pair then flew to Western Australia, where he three days in the Fiona Stanley Hospital, where fortunately he did not require any operations or skin grafts.
“My face was completely peeling. I was really afraid to look at my face and when I did, I looked like I had aged 30 years,” he said.
When asked by ABC radio station Drive presenter Jo Trilling when he planned to get back in the water, Kirby replied: “Next week, hopefully.”