Abbey Alexander was 18 years old when the world around her burst into flames.
It was August, and she was riding a motorcycle through Siem Reap, Cambodia, with her colleague Zoe Eleftheriou, 22. They both taught classes there. A gas station exploded when a tanker truck carrying 440 gallons of fuel caught fire, and the fireball injured more than a dozen people. Abbey hit the brakes, fell, and rolled on the ground because her body was on fire. A car ran her over as she writhed. She ended up with second- and third-degree burns on her face and over 40% of her body.
Doctors removed the dead tissue from her face with something like a cheese slicer. Then they took a piece of skin from her thigh, turned it into a stem cell spray, and applied it so her skin could regenerate. She spent weeks on a ventilator, experiencing hallucinations and false memories. She was evacuated to the United States and discharged in October, rather than after the expected six months.
Now 25, she posted a photo on Reddit showing what she looks like almost seven years later: blonde, curly-haired, wearing makeup, and smiling. There are a few scars on her arms, but her face healed wonderfully. Her life is different, she says, and yet she is happy.