Louisiana father left with gruesome face and body burns after boat exploded at popular event
Devear 'Dee' Tureaud, a 53-year-old father-of-two, sustained extensive burns to his face - including his ears - as well as both arms from elbows to fingers when a boat he was working on suddenly erupted in flames.
The explosion occurred during the weekend of May 3 at the Tickfaw 200, a well-known 'three-day power boat poker run' held annually on the Tickfaw River in Livingston Parish.
Tureaud was repairing the vessel alongside three other men - Dylan Fabre, Gage Wilcoxson and Seth Camallo - when disaster struck.
'It wasn't your normal backfire,' Fabre explained to WBRZ. 'Somehow fuel or something got very excessive in the process of it, and whenever it backfired, it turned into a bomb.'
According to Fabre, the 28-foot boat had recently been restored with a new motor but began to malfunction on Friday, May 2.
The following day, the group took it out to replace some parts and get it running again.
'I was next to the motor, so I got out and Dee said, "Start turning it over, Dylan,"' Fabre recalled to UnfilteredWithKiran.com.
They managed to start the motor, but it soon died again.
'It died on us and he started adjusting a little bit. I turned around and he tells me to hit it again. And as soon as I turned it over, it just exploded.'
The initial blast, which occurred around 9pm according to a spokesperson from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, produced relatively small flames at first.
Fabre said he was able to untie the boat from the dock with help from a friend and push it further out into the water as the fire intensified and they alerted the local fire department.
All four men were burned by the heat and flames, but Tureaud - who was standing closest to the engine - suffered the most severe injuries.
'He has first, second, and third-degree burns,' his fiancée, Eleshia Coats, said. 'If he hadn't been wearing a shirt at the time of the explosion, his chest would have also been burned.'
Since being admitted, Tureaud has undergone multiple surgeries and faces weeks of ongoing treatment. Coats said they expect he will remain at the New Orleans Burn Center for at least another week.
Despite the trauma, Tureaud remains grateful. 'I'm glad nobody else got hurt,' he told WBRZ.
Now facing a long and painful recovery, Tureaud - who has long supported his fiancée and two children - will be unable to work for the foreseeable future.
'I got my arms done [with skin grafts] and they are waiting on my face to finish doing what it is going to do, and tomorrow, I think they going to finish on that,' he said.
To help cover mounting medical expenses, friends and family launched a GoFundMe campaign that has already raised nearly $12,000 of its $20,000 goal.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion, though official details remain limited.
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