A 19-year-old Australian surfer on his first solo trip overseas has suffered serious burns to 13 per cent to his body after a boat explosion in Indonesia.
Jensen Kirby was on holiday on the idyllic Telos islands off the west coast of Sumatra when he decided to catch a speed boat out to a surf break on August 11.
The Perth teenager said he was engulfed in a burning hot ‘fireball’ after the skipper mishandled a boat battery which began spewing petrol flames.
‘The mechanic was putting the battery on and plugging it up. He plugged the negative to the positive, so it was wrong, and as soon as it clicked it just sparked and ignited the petrol fumes in the boat,’ Mr Kirby told the ABC.
‘All I saw was the spark and the next moment I just saw the flames around me and I was like “Oh my god, what the hell do I do?” I was in the middle of this fire.
‘I just remember hearing the big whooshing sound going past me. It was crazy, like out of a movie.
‘I just turned around and jumped straight into the water because I was so scared and got away as far as I could in case there was another explosion.’
Mr Kirby said it felt like a ‘sunburn times 100’ and he ran straight back into the sea to get relief but unfortunately his leg hit sand and tore skin off.
Jensen Kirby, 19, suffered burns to 13 per cent of his body after the speed boat he was on exploded near the Telos islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on August 11
Mr Kirby (pictured) had been on his first solo trip overseas when the incident occurred
The Perth teenager (pictured) said he was engulfed in a burning hot ‘fireball’ after a skipper mishandled a boat battery and it began spewing petrol flames
‘It was like someone peeled paper off a stack of paper sheets, it was pretty crazy,’ he said.
Mr Kirby ran to the showers to get under cold water and rang his mother in Perth.
‘I said “Mum, please don’t freak out” and she said “What happened?” and I said “The boat just exploded” and she was freaking out,’ he recalled.
The young surfer suffered serious burns to his face, chest, arms, hands and legs.
Mr Kirby said his main concern was how difficult it would be to get to a hospital from the remote island before his burns became infected.
On the 45-minute boat trip to a medical outpost – with the mechanic who largely escaped the inferno unscathed – Mr Kirby said he stopped himself from passing out by taking deep breaths.
‘Am I going to live? Am I going to live but not be able to surf again? Am I going to have to get an amputation… because of an infection? And then I also had a thought of “Am I going to die?” It’s a crazy, crazy thing to experience,’ he told 7News.
At the medial centre the talented surfer was given some tablets and his wounds were dressed with gauze and cream.
He later awoke to find blisters all over his body.
The young surfer suffered serious burns to his face, chest, arms, hands and legs (pictured)
The picturesque Telo Islands off the west coast of Sumatra is a popular surfing destination
Mr Kirby was fortunately able to get a plane ticket to Padang in Indonesia and then to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia where his ‘legend’ mum was waiting for him.
Their pair then flew to Western Australia where he spent three days in Fiona Stanley Hospital where he fortunately avoided having surgery or skin grafts.
‘My face was fully peeling. I was really scared to look at my face and when I did I looked like I had aged 30 years,’ he said.
When asked by ABC radio Drive host Jo Trilling when he planned to go back in the water Mr Kirby replied ‘Next week, hopefully’.
