Comedian Jay Leno, in his first interview since suffering severe burns while working on one of his classic cars on Nov. 12, said he initially ignored doctors’ recommendation that he go to a hospital for treatment.
He eventually spent nine days at a burn center, where he underwent skin graft surgery and received hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help the healing process.
Leno, on NBC’s “Today,” said he was injured while trying to unclog the fuel line on a 1907 White steam car. He asked a friend, Dave Killackey, to help by blowing some air through the line.
“Suddenly, boom, I got a face full of gas, and the pilot light jumped and my face caught on fire,” Leno said.
Killackey pulled Leno from under the car and put out the flames. He described the injuries as “horrific.”
“He was really engulfed. I couldn’t even see his face,” Killackey said. “It was a wall of fire.”
Leno said his right ear had to be reconstructed, and his fingers were burned “pretty bad.” But he said no one should worry about him.
“People who work with their hands get injured every single day,” he said. “I don’t want to be some whiny celebrity.”
Leno, who headlined the 2015 National Automobile Dealers Association convention, joked that the worst part of the ordeal was seeing so much gasoline go to waste.
“We’re in California,” he said. “It’s $7 a gallon.”
