Teen badly burned after soaking hair in gas to get rid of lice

"We don't know ... why she went through with it. She's not dumb," says the burn victi's roommate. "She's actually pretty damn smart." (Courier-Press)

Comments

[Sheila]

Sad, yes. Smart, I don't think so.

[Caffeinated Katie]

She almost made the Darwin awards.

[sometimesilie]

what these children consider "smart" these days is rote memorization. Critical thinking has gone by the wayside.

[LimeGreenLizard]

It is amazing how many people don't understand just how low the flashpoint of gasoline is. Static electricity can easily ignite it. That's the reason you're supposed to turn your vehicle off when fueling. When running, it's generating electricity, and can readily ignite the fuel going into your tank and explode it out all over you.

Otherwise, I'm not reading the article or staying here. Just too sad.

[troschne]

This happened near where I grew up, and one of my best friends is a flight nurse, and works at the hospital where she was originally taken. I'll see what more I can find out about this.

I'm with you, sheila--not a smart girl, but still a sad story.

[RockyMtnMac]

I've heard of this happening before.
My son got lice in 1st grade. I kept him home, went to the pharmacy and got "Rid", and called the school. The school said there had been a MAJOR INFESTATION, but I was the only parent who had bothered to keep my kid home or call. WHAT???
The other parents didn't want anyone to know because of the social stigma. WHAT??? So these Dipsh!t parents sent their yuppie-larvae to school to infect every other kid.
I kept my kids home for a week.
Next time I'm going to suggest gasoline to the other parents...

[Dick C. Normas]

Her mistake was how she did it.

1 Shave one side bald.
2 Soak remaining hair in gas.
3 set hair on fire.
4 As lice run from the fire to the clearing
(see step 1) you stab them with an ice pick.

Works on pubic lice as well.

[Kelly]

It's amazing what people will do to get rid of lice, I mean, rather than actually use the special shampoo. My agency gives out lice meds for FREE to poor families, but they still don't ask for it. It makes me sad when a parent shaves the heads of their little girls rather than ask for lice medication. BTW - the gas treatment is an urban ledgend... lots of people think it works.

[buddy]

this story reminds me of that old joke:

how do you make jessica brooks sound like a dog?
give her lice, watch her douse herself with gasoline and fill the room with fumes, wait for the fumes to hit the pilot light, and WOOF!

[lynn]

how horrible...this happened in north ga once and it was the mother and "boyfriend" putting kerosine to the little girls hair..she did not live, they were charged with murder.

[kevy]

Not even remotely funny buddy.

[MONKEY JERK]

THE DE-LICE MEDICINE WOULD PROBABLY HAVE BEEN CHEAPER THAN THE GAS

[USMerc]

...and on a lighter note, there are no more lice! (I am SO going to hell for that)

[USMerc]

I'll hang my head in shame now....

[USMerc]

OH NO!!! I just realized!!!! I'm now acting just like buddy!!!! SHOOT ME NOW!!!!!!!!

[Phranqlin]

Poor kid. What a nightmare.

[twerp]

You forgot to add the words "for sure" to the end of your statement, MONKEYJERK. I'll have to say I agree with you on that one though.

[BallstotheWall]

Man, she is so hot she's on fire.

[Reno]

"Young, who planned to marry Brooks in May on the couple's anniversary, is staying at the Ronald McDonald house in Louisville to be close to her."

I'm guessing that the wedding is now off, since is says 'planned' and not 'plans'.

I just looked it up on Google. Delicing shampoo is more expensive than I would have guessed.

This sounds pretty bad for the girl.

[troschne]

Your're right, Reno--I thought the same thing.

[troschne]

Your're right, Reno--I thought the same thing.

[lynn]

MERC!! bad bad boy....RMM is going to have to punish you for that. & rest assured, it will hurt her more that you. (anyone else get that line as your parent was about to whip you with the belt, brush or paddle?)

then you will write 1000 times, I WILL NOT BE A BUDDY.

just wait til RMM gets home from the jello olympic training. :)

[RockyMtnMac]

Bad Merc! Very Bad Merc!

Troschne, you totally mispelled "you're". I suppose you will be splitting infinities next. Did we not learn our lesson yesterday? Want more detention Mister?

What the hell is wrong with you two?

[lynn]

place them in the jello pool. that will teach them.

[pms]

Just goes to show.....you can be really smart for an 18 year old..and still be really really dumb. I feel very sorry for this girl, all she did was think like most 18 year olds and from the description, she'll be lucky to live.

pms, IMO from the description she will be lucky to heal in a way that doesn't cause everyone who sees her to turn and shudder.

[cherie]

there is a difference between book smart and common sense smart....

[Dave]

For god's sake, just let the poor girl die.

[ReginaFilangee]

It's pretty common for lice to be completely resistant to the OTC shampoos on the market, which is what usually leads people to try home remedies such as this rather than go to their doctor for a prescription treatment.

If I'm not mistaken, it was lindane that the parents used on the little girl who died, not kerosene.

I'm guessing that the past-tense used for the marriage plans has more to do with the timing than speculating he has abandoned plans to marry her altogether. There is no way she could possibly be anywhere near healed enough for a May wedding, so of course those plans were cancelled. For him to be staying by her side while suffering serious burns himself from trying to rescue her says much to me about his intentions. If she survives, I'll bet they still marry.

Although I wouldn't have used gasoline myself (for other reasons), I don't know that it would have occurred to me either that the water heater MIGHT have a pilot light that MIGHT ignite the fumes once they built up inside the apartment enough to reach the water heater, located behind a wall. I've always had electric water heaters myself, and I'm sure that a teenage girl wouldn't have much experience or knowledge in that area in a rented apartment. But all else being the same, had she simply opened a window and stayed by it, this tragic result would have probably not happened.

My heart and prayers go out to her and her family.

[Eric]

really?

[ReginaFilangee]

In some cases, you might be right Dave. Sad that it is, death is often a better alternative than the tortured life that lies in front of a severe-burn victim.

It's too soon for such a comment in this case, however.

[cardon Neeley]

The article doesn't mention whether the gasoline actually did kill the lice.

[ReginaFilangee]

The fire killed the lice, in case you were being serious. And since they can't live without a blood source, I'm pretty sure peeling the dead skin from her head would take care of them anyway.

If you were trying to make a joke, it wasn't a good one, imo.

[troschne]

My bad, RMM--I guess when you're done punishing Merc, I'm next in line. I will wait in your outer office, sweating bullets until the time comes.

[USMerc]

I will not be a buddy I will not be a buddy I will not be a buddy I will not be a buddy I will not be a butty I will not beat up buddy I will not pee in putty....damn...where was I......

[USMerc]

...The 2009 Jell-Olympics have me all twitterpated......Is twitterpated a word??? If it is, did I spell it correctly??? Was it used in the right context??? hmmmm....

[RockyMtnMac]

OK Troschne.
Stop spitting devinities, or splitting nativities, or whatever it was that got you in here... whew, is it hot in here?....

[troschne]

LMAO @ RMM!!

[LimeGreenLizard]

Lynn, Sweetie,

Are you from Georgia?

[Navy Chief]

@Merc - Yeah, it's used in a Disney movie, I think, in just that way.

[troschne]

I checked the main Web page for the originating site, to see if there were any updates, and, due to all of the comments posted regarding the story. There was a little symbol of fire, and next to that was "HOT!". Very poor taste, but I wouldn't expect anything less than that from Evansville.

[dANO]

Dick C. Normas...I would recommend using a fork, instead of an ice-pick. Better odds at stabbing the little buggers and then you can eat them for a tasty treat while your head burns. Yum Yum

[Dgsbxhs]

Ah this is sad to aad they should takeoff

[David]

I knew a woman that is so scared of spiders that she would probably run over broken glass to get away from one. While she is intelligent, once a spider is visible to her the intelligence goes away and panic sets in.

While no one I know likes to have bugs crawling on them, for some it's an irrational fear rather then just an "eww" moment. It's telling in the story that it is mentioned that she 'believed' she might have caught the lice and immediately took steps rather than finding out if she actually had them.

Sometimes smart people do irrational things out of fear.

[lynn]

mikey--i mean stud lizard--yes i live in georgia, but i am a true blood rock throwing alabama girl.

merc, i were not in love with SIL, rmm might have some competition. :)

[JimmyVa]

She ended up with...Flied Rice!!!

[JimmyV]

She ordered the Flied Rice.

[USMerc]

Aw, Gee Lynn! That's mighty nice of you to say!! :)

[Hal Newcome]

Gasoline is dangerous even if it doesn't catch fire. I clicked through on the article to find out if she'd just chemical-burned her scalp off. Gas is horrible stuff that you do not want on your skin for long at all, near your eyes, or up your nose. You'd have to be crazy to put it on your head.

Scanning the MSDS, it says flowing gasoline can auto-ignite from self-produced static electricity. That's the scariest thing I've heard in a while.