A 27-year-old Gold Coast father was holding his six-month-old baby boy, Izack, on Tuesday afternoon when a gas barbeque exploded in their faces, throwing them over a metre away.
The blast was triggered when Elliot Slessor accidentally ignited gas that was trapped in one of the smoker’s compartments.
The father and son jumped straight in the pool to calm the burning, with burns to their arms and faces.
They were taken to Gold Coast University Hospital and were discharged yesterday.
Elliot described the horrific ordeal to Gold Coast Bulletin: “Izack was scratched up, with burnt fingers and just screaming an absolutely horrifying scream,” he said.
“I don’t want to go through that ever again.”
Elliot suffered burns to his arm
The smoker barbeque
Elliot was preparing the barbeque to begin cooking dinner when the flame kept going out because of the wind.
He switched the gas off and pressed the ignite button without realising the top compartment was full of gas.
“The fire was off but I pushed the button and it’s just blown back at us,” he recalled.
He and his son were thrown backwards, nearly hitting a wall at the back of the house.
Neighbours called for help and Elliot and Izack stayed in the pool until medics came.
Luckily, the two received non-life threatening injuries.
The little tot suffered burns to his finger and right hand, plus cuts to his face from the fall, and his father’s left arm was burned.
