Woman badly burned in hair lotion horror

Christine Bridgwood, 55, screamed in agony as her hair burst into flames after using lotion to kill head lice she had picked up from her grandchildren.

The intense flames melted skin on her face, head and shoulders, leaving her with severe burns. Her husband Kenneth Bridgwood, 55, was also scarred as he tried to smother the flames.

Mrs Bridgwood, from Thorne, Doncaster, is expected to be in hospital for six weeks where she will undergo a series of skin grafts.

Mr Bridgwood, a train maintenance engineer, was in the kitchen of the couple's home when he heard his wife of 33 years scream "help, I'm on fire."

He said: "I just heard my wife scream out and went running. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"Her head was just a ball of flame. It's the most dreadful sight I have ever witnessed. It was like something from a horror movie.

"At first I just tried to smother the flames with my hands, then I grabbed a dressing gown that was on the sofa and used that.

"But that burst into flames so I threw that down. As I took Christine into the kitchen the flames jumped from her onto my hair.

"We both ended up just dousing the flames with water from the kitchen tap – then I called an ambulance."

The couple were treated at the scene by paramedics before they were taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary and then transferred to the burns unit at Sheffield's Northern General Hospital.

Mrs Bridgwood was placed in an induced coma for six hours due to the severity of the burns.

Mr Bridgwood said: "She is recovering and is able to walk around the ward, but she has been told she needs skin grafts so she will be in hospital for up to six weeks."

The couple had both used television-advertised Hedrin lotion, which Mrs Bridgwood bought because she believed she may have caught head lice from one of her 12 grandchildren.

Mr Bridgwood said: "We are always seeing our grandchildren and headlice seems to be going around the area.

"Christine thought her head was itchy and that we might have caught them again from one of the grandkids. We've used this lotion before and it has done the trick so she bought it so we could make sure.

"It's oil-based and looking on the packaging there is a tiny warning.

"About 15 minutes after we had used it Christine went to turn down the gas fire and the flame just leapt out and set fire to her hair. The stuff must have dripped onto her face and shoulders and the flames spread there.

"She was an arm's length from the gas fire, she wasn't any closer.

"When I was helping her we weren't head to head and it set fire to me as well.

"It was horrific and frightening. It was bad enough for us but it is also used for children – I dread to think what could happen if a whole family used it and it caught fire.

"The warning is very innocuous and should be a lot more prominent. The product is obviously volatile and very dangerous and something should be done to prevent this happening to anyone else."

A spokesman from manufacturers Thornton and Ross said 10 million bottles of Hedrin have been sold across Europe since it was launched four years ago.

He added: "Clearly this is an awful incident and our best wishes go out to the couple.

"The product is fully approved by the Medicine and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency. It has undergone rigorous testing and is scientifically proven to be not flammable.

"The pack carries warnings that hair can catch fire if a naked flame is held near. We will investigate this incident thoroughly as soon as we receive further information."