60-year-old mechanic Philip Hoe was admitted to hospital with a serious skin condition.
He was, however, a heavy (I’m talking 20-a-day) smoker, and wasn’t quite ready to give that up just yet. Unfortunately, this craving led to a pivotal moment in his life—and not in a good way.
A few years prior, he was receiving skin treatment at a hospital, but went into the toilets to have a smoke—which wasn’t allowed in the hospital.
Doing this, he managed to burn his dressing gown—but nothing that posed a threat to his life.
But a similar situation struck in 2006, and he wouldn’t be able to cheat death so easily this time.
He was now at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, yet again getting more treatment for his psoriasis. His nurse had moisturised his body by smearing him with several ointments, which was meant to soothe the skin.
Hoe had then been warned not to smoke, as it was not permitted in the hospital—and to add to that, it really wouldn’t have been a good idea when he was covered head to toe in liquid paraffin.
But when no-one was around, Hoe snuck out onto the hospital fire escape (the access of which was prohibited) to have a quick smoke—almost like the plot to a tragic comedy.
‘The victim, obviously a smoker, had slipped away from a ward for a crafty fag and was in the enclosed stairwell of a fire escape.’
But this cigarette craving would prove to be fatal.
Percy Smith, another patient at the hospital, who was watching Emmerdale at the time, suddenly heard shouts from the stairwell:
‘… I heard a male shouting help me. The shouting was over and over again. He was screaming as if he was in a lot of pain.’
A gust of wind had caused the cigarette flame to spread to his entire body, and set him alight like a human bonfire.
‘His body was engulfed from head to foot in flames. He was stood upright not moving, just screaming for help.’
Immediately a student nurse and sister grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to douse the flames, but he was left with 90 percent of his body with third-degree burns.
He was transferred to another hospital but died shortly after.