A Texas man lost nearly half of his skin after a gas leak sparked a house fire and he ran inside to save his dog.
Zain Cano detailed his injuries in a Reddit post, writing that he lost 40% of his skin and spent a month in the hospital. His dog, however, was indeed saved.
“I had been working on my motorcycle and didn’t secure the fuel line, the gas leaked onto the carpet and caught fire, luckily I was the only one home at the time but I realized my dog was in the house and ran in to get him,” he wrote.
According to a GoFundMe set up by Cano’s girlfriend, Jenna Carter, the fire took place on May 22 at the couple’s San Antonio home while she was out running errands.
While Cano initially made it out of the house “relatively unscathed,” Carter wrote that he ran back in once he realized the couple’s dog, Clarence, was still inside.
“By this point, the house was engulfed. Fortunately, they both made it back out alive, but not without Zain withstanding third-degree burns to 40% of his body,” she continued.
Carter added that the couple is seeking donations to cover housing, as their home was destroyed in the fire.
“He’s going to need multiple weeks of continuous medical care and help from me (he has to use a walker and cannot use his hands), and we desperately need a stable environment for him to heal in,” she wrote.
Carter continued: “We are asking for help so we can afford to relocate for a few months. Anything that’s able to be contributed will help immensely and go straight into finding an affordable, handicap-friendly place to stay to make this transition for Zain as painless and worry-free as possible. We’re not sure what our next steps are, but we know this is where we have to start.”
In his Reddit post, Cano said that the recovery process has been “literally the worst experience of my life.”
“I feel horrible because my family is now homeless because of my mistake, we’re staying at a motel for the time being but it’s expensive and I can’t work and probably won’t be able to for at least another month or more,” he adds.
As of Thursday, June 19, Cano and Carter’s GoFundMe had raised nearly $4K toward their $5K goal.