Jay Leno is opening up about the burn injuries he sustained last month during a horrific fire incident.
In a column for the Wall Street Journal, the comedian stressed that it was an accident that led to him sustaining second and possible third-degree burns to his face, hands, chest, and other body parts while working on a vintage car in his Burbank, California, garage.
"Anybody who works with their hands on a regular basis is going to have an accident at some point. If you play football, you get a concussion or a broken leg. Anything you do, there’s a risk factor," he said.
TMZ reported at the time that Leno had been fixing a clogged fuel line on his 1907 White Steam Car when gasoline sprayed on his face and hands, then, almost simultaneously, a spark triggered an explosion, setting Leno on fire. He spent 10 days at the Grossman Burn Center in California, where he underwent two skin graft surgeries for the burns he sustained and also received hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
"Eight days later, I had a brand new face," Leno wrote in his WSJ column. "And it’s better than what was there before."
Leno has remained upbeat and on several occasions made light of the accident. He returned to the comedy stage days after receiving treatment for his burns and joked about the accident with reporters outside the Comedy Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, California, prior to his show.
"National Enquirer got the story all wrong. They said I was in the hospital because Nancy Pelosi hit me in the head with the hammer, that's not what happened," Leno jokingly told Access Hollywood at the time. "We got two shows tonight, regular and extra crispy."
Leno added: "I never thought of myself as a roast comic."
Writing for the WSJ, Leno said he had to joke about it.
"There’s nothing worse than whiny celebrities," he explained. "If you joke about it, people laugh along with you."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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