An Ohio teen was removing her nail polish near a lit candle when the acetone's vapors caught on fire, engulfing her in flames that left the 14-year-old hospitalized with third-degree burns.
Kennedy, who is only going by her first name, is sharing her story to warn others of the dangers of a commonly used flammable liquid.
Kennedy told doctors she was in her room removing her nail polish before a school basketball game on Jan. 5. The teen is on the cheerleading squad and had to take it off in order to comply with her school’s cheerleading uniform.
While removing the polish near a lit candle, the fumes from the acetone vapor in the nail polish remover ignited the candle and bottle "exploded," setting Kennedy on fire, according to Shriners Children's Ohio in Dayton.
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“As I was setting the bottle of nail polish remover down on my bed the fumes kind of just mixed together and the bottle exploded in my hand,” Kennedy told People Magazine. “It caught me and everything near me on fire.”
The fire gave her second and third degree burns on her hands, arm, thighs and stomach – roughly 13% of her body was scorched.
Her parents were at work at the time the fire broke out. As she tried to smother the flames, her siblings rushed into her bedroom to help and called 911. Before paramedics arrived, they put out the fire on Kennedy’s body but closed the door to her burning bedroom, according to People.
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Kennedy was taken to Shriners, a pediatric facility that specializes in burn care, for treatment. Doctors there had to perform major a procedure to clean her wounds and remove the dead skin.
“It was a horrific scene of her being covered in bubbles and welts and her skin being melted away,” Kennedy’s mother, Brandi, told People. “It was a wild experience.”
A little over 10 days later, Kennedy had her first skin graft surgery on her arm, abdomen, hip and upper thigh. A skin graft involves taking healthy skin from one part of the body and moving it to an area with damaged or missing skin, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
She was discharged soon after and is continuing her treatment with physical and occupational therapy. The hospital says she is “healing remarkably well” as she is determined to get back to cheerleading and to her other favorite hobby, playing the saxophone.
Videos shared by the hospital show nurses changing her wound dressing and Kennedy successfully completing several therapy tasks.
“Kennedy's a little warrior. She really has pushed through everything and they're really surprised at how well she's healing,” Brandi told People. “Three weeks later... it's just amazing how it looks now. Doctors say she's going to have minimal scarring, minimal everything. Their goal is to make sure she's comfortable with her body afterwards so we are very appreciative of them.”
Her family is currently living in a nearby hotel because their house was heavily damaged by the January fire.
Kennedy said she hopes her story will serve as a warning to other families about nail polish’s flammability and the possible injuries that it could cause.
Acetone, the primary ingredient in nail polish remover, makes it highly flammable. Experts warn that acetone evaporates quickly, creating a flammable vapor that can be ignited by static discharge.
Safety officials say to never use nail polish remover near an open flame and ensure you have proper ventilation to prevent a build up of acetone vapor.
