PORTLAND, Or. (CBS News) — Fire investigators in Oregon say a mix of olive oil, hand sanitizer, and static electricity caused an 11-year-old cancer survivor to catch fire in her hospital bed.
They say earlier this month, little Ireland lane learned about static electricity, and she apparently was trying to make static sparks by scuffing her feet and rubbing her bed sheets.
Fire crews say the static charge likely ignited the fumes from the hand sanitizer she had just used and burned through the shirt she was wearing.
They say hospital workers used olive oil to remove the adhesive from the bandages that wrapped Lane’s head. The oil dripped from her hair to her shirt, which likely made the burn worse.
Ireland received second and third degree burns on 19 percent of her body. She has already gone through one skin graft surgery and was set to have another one on Thursday, which is also her twelfth birthday.
