An 18-year-old incoming California college freshman, Viana Poggi, suffered disfiguring burns while making s’mores at an alcohol-fueled fire.
As a result, she was hospitalized to treat injuries on her arms and face, and while she has since been discharged, she is not quite healed yet.
Poggi has since opened up about her harrowing ordeal and told a local news outlet that she is trying to make the best of her situation.
There was still a small flame when the pit was being refueled
Image credits: vianapoggi
Speaking to California’s KABC on July 25, she recalled: “We were making s’mores, and what happened to me is called fire jetting.
“It’s when an alcohol-fueled pit basically explodes,” she said of the accident that took place earlier in the month.
In Poggi’s case, the pit was being refueled while–unknown to her–the fire was not completely extinguished.
Image credits: Alaina Arbiso, Viana Poggi / GoFundMe
“Because it was so quick I closed my eyes,” Poggi’s account continued. “I wasn’t aware I was on fire. I thought I had just been burned by the rubbing alcohol.”
She only realized she was on fire when her cousin pushed her into the pool
She described the searing heat, which was alternated by a cold sensation as the flames burned her skin.
Image credits: vianapoggi
“I was pushed into the pool and at that point we knew I was on fire,” she continued, saying that she was collected by an ambulance soon after and rushed to the hospital.
Her cousin Alaina Arbiso, who pushed Poggi into the swimming pool, also weighed in, claiming that the accident transpired “within like a millisecond.”
“You don’t even see it coming,” they recalled. “You have no time to react. It just happened.”
For the hospital, rubbing alcohol-related burns are common
Image credits: vianapoggi
“Even when I got to the ER I just said I got hit by fire, and they asked me, ‘Was it rubbing alcohol?’ Because it’s so common for people to be burned that way,” Poggi’s account continued.
Working at the same trauma unit was a close friend of Poggi’s, Alexandra Welsh, who was shocked to see what had befallen her.
“I work at a trauma center, so I see a lot of traumatic injuries come in,” she told the outlet.” But it is so different when it is someone who you think of as a little sister.”
Image credits: vianapoggi
But Poggi’s spirits remain high. She refuses to let the injuries drag her morale.
Poggi remains positive despite her injuries and long schedule of future visits to the hospital
The outlet posted videos of the freshman-to-be’s face and arms wrapped up in bandages to the point that she is mummy-like in appearance—a sighting that usually inspires gravity.
But not with Poggi, as she was filmed doing her best dance moves adding comedy to what came harrowingly close to tragedy.
@viana06 As light and funny as I can make the topic this is a very traumatic and painful experience that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. I’m very thankful for all the love I’ve received from family and friends as I heal. And am happy to give a more in depth video on this as there is so much more that went along with this quick overview. Anyhow, don’t get burned. It hurts. 🥹❤️🩹 #tiktokdonttakethisdown #im18tiktok⚠️ #fyp #burnawareness #burnsurvivor ♬ original sound – Viana
“I always remember it could have been worse,” Poggi explained. “I try to keep a good attitude.”
The burn victim wants people to know the danger of alcohol-fueled pits
Poggi also wants to use her experience to raise awareness.
“I really want people to know the danger of using an alcohol-fueled pit [be]cause they are so common.”
Set to start college in a month while at the start of a string of corrective medical procedures, she also suggested that the accident did not occur through lack of experience.
Image credits: KABC/ABC7
She told ABC7: “We owned I think three of them.”
A GoFundMe account has been set for Viana Poggi
A GoFundMe page titled “Aid Viana’s Recovery from severe burns and College Dream”
has been launched by Arbiso and has since accumulated $15,000.
Image credits: vianapoggi
“Viana is supposed to leave for her freshman year of college at the University of San Francisco in a month,” the description reads.
“With the big move coming, multiple reconstruction surgeries, and a long emotional/physical recovery in her foreseeable future, V is going to need all the help she can get.”
Poggi is one of 600,000 American victims to get burned every year
According to a study published on the National Library of Medicine website, Poggi is one of 600,000 individuals to be hospitalized with burns annually.
Image credits: vianapoggi
Another study, by the American Burn Association, published in 2021, found that most statistics–like Poggi–occur yearly between May and August.
Most burns occur on hands and arms, per Burn Association Wound Report, and not all burns are immediately recognizable as some are internal and the result of inhaling hot air or vapors from chemicals.
Some factions of social media thinks “she looks good, considering”
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