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- When Mary Wilson, 29, from South Carolina, US, was drying her hair before bed, she never expected to be fighting for her life hours later.
- Rushed to hospital, docs discovered Mary had an electric shock from her hair dryer, causing her to pass out.
- To save Mary’s life, docs amputated her left hand.
WARNING: Graphic content below.
Here Mary tells her story in her own words.
Running my fingers through my shoulder length purple hair with one hand, I held my hair dryer in the other.
I can’t wait to finish this and climb into bed, I thought, sleepily.
It was February 2024 and, after a long day as a dog groomer, I was exhausted.
I’d come home, had a shower, and my partner Mel, then 29, and I enjoyed pasta and wine.
‘I tried to wake you, but you wouldn’t open your eyes.’
While she cleaned up the dishes, I’d gone upstairs to the bathroom to dry my hair before turning in for the night.
As I worked on taming my tresses, my two pitbulls, Ace and Migo, were wrestling on the bed.
Then the world suddenly went black…
When I came to on our bed, Mel was standing over me, with a terrified look.
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‘What’s going on?’ I asked, confused.
I listened in horror as Mel explained that she’d heard the dogs in a frenzy, running around upstairs.
When she came to see what the commotion was about, she’d found me collapsed on the bathroom floor, the hair dryer running on the highest heat setting.
With my right hand still grasping the handle, the dryer had been blowing hot air on my left hand.
‘I feel like I’m on fire.’
By the time Mel found me, I’d been unconscious for around 10 minutes.
‘I tried to wake you, but you wouldn’t open your eyes,’ she said, fighting back tears.
Struggling to find my pulse, Mel had performed CPR on me for five minutes before I regained consciousness.
‘I thought you were dead,’ she choked out.
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There was no way of knowing why I’d collapsed, but Mel suspected I’d had an electric shock from the hair dryer, causing me to pass out.
As I struggled to process what Mel was telling me, a searing pain radiated through my left arm.
Looking down, I was horrified to see the skin on my left hand was so charred it was unrecognisable.
My fingers were like barbecued sausages.
‘If we amputate your whole hand, you’ll recover much faster.’
Scooping me up in her arms, Mel carried me downstairs and into our car to take me to a nearby urgent care centre.
As I carefully cradled my smouldering arm in my lap, the pain was paralysing and I drifted in and out of consciousness.
Arriving within minutes, in emergency, doctors administered pain relief, and assessed my injuries.
‘I feel like I’m on fire!’ I wailed.
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They confirmed I had second and third degree burns on my arm, and minor injuries on my left foot and left eyelid too.
Without proper equipment to treat me, they put plastic wrap around my blistering skin and transferred me by ambulance to a hospital 20 minutes away, while Mel followed.
Once there, I was in such agony my body went into shock, and I was shaking uncontrollably.
I’m so glad you’re okay.’
Doctors confirmed I’d received an electric shock.
I was whisked in to surgery to relieve dangerous pressure that had built up as a result of swelling in my left arm.
Once I was stable, Mel returned home for the night to care for the dogs, but was back at my bed first thing in the morning.
Each day nurses treated my burns by scraping the peeling skin from my hand and changing my dressings. My poor hand was red raw and swollen.
After three days, my doctor had more bad news.
‘Your fingers were so badly burned we’re not sure they can be saved,’ he said, adding there was a chance I might be left with only one.
‘If we amputate your whole hand, you’ll recover much faster,’ he explained.
Desperate for an end to the unbearable pain, I didn’t think twice. ‘Let’s get rid of it,’ I agreed.
The following morning, I underwent a six-hour op where surgeons removed my hand entirely.
When I woke, Mel and my mum, Nancy, were by my side.
‘I’m so glad you’re okay,’ they both said, cuddling me.
Incredibly, after 10 days recovering in hospital, I was discharged.
Back home, I struggled to navigate life with only one hand. Activities such as cooking, tying my shoes and doing up buttons on my clothes felt near impossible.
To make life a little easier, I invested in things like automatic can openers and zipper pulls for when I was at home alone.
I threw out my hair dryer, replacing it with one that has an automatic shut-off switch and blows cool and hot air intermittently.
For two months, I went back to the burns unit twice a week to get my bandages changed, until Mel took over doing it.
Four months after my amputation site had healed I was fitted with my first prosthetic and began physical therapy.
A year on from my accident, I’ve had to give up my job as a groomer, but I’ve found new passions in dog walking and pet sitting.
And while things take a little longer – like washing my hair or hanging out laundry – my ordeal has taught me to live every day to the fullest.
A freak accident stole my hand, but I won’t let it steal my happiness!
To support Mary, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/Give-Mary-A-Hand
