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Texas man loses 40 percent of his skin after running back into house to save dog when motorcycle exploded in the living room
A Texas man burned 40 percent of his skin off his body after rushing into his burning home to save his dog after a motorcycle exploded inside.
Zain Cano, 31, of San Antonio, risked his life to save his dog on May 22 when a fire erupted inside he and wife Jenna Carter's duplex while he was working on his motorcycle inside the home around 10pm.
'I had been working on my motorcycle and didn't secure the fuel line, the gas leaked onto the carpet and caught fire,' he wrote on Reddit.
Cano managed to safely escape the apartment, only to realize his beloved dog Clarence was still inside and ran back into get the pooch, who appears frequently on his social media pages.
Carter was not home when the fire broke out. When firefighters arrived, flames were leaping out of the home and they found Cano lying on the lawn, according to News 4 San Antonio. He was rushed to the hospital.
The heroic feat left Cano hospitalized and with burns covering 40 percent of his body and in need of multiple surgeries, the couple revealed in a GoFundMe and on Facebook.
Cano, who was released from the hospital on Wednesday, also underwent a skin graft on the right side of his body and a blood transfusion.
One of the skin grafts, which transferred skin from his calf to his foot, resulted in one of his tattoos being moved to a different part of his body.
Photos of Cano in hospital, show him completely unrecognizable with no hair and white bandages covering every part of his body - a far cry from the dark-haired, mustached man he was before the incident.
Cano, who does not have health insurance, Carter, and Clarence are now homeless and the young dog owner faces a lengthy and painful road to recovery.
'I feel horrible because my family is now homeless because of my mistake,' he wrote on Reddit. '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.'
Carter is also not working at the moment as Cano cannot care for himself and needs assistance changing his bandages, giving him sponge baths, and 'wiping my butt.'
'He's had a hard road so far and a long one ahead of him in terms of healing.' Carter wrote on the GoFundMe.
'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.'
The couple is hoping to purchase a camper to minimize their expenses, but worry it might hurt Cano, who is 'having trouble getting around.'
'We have to change my bandages daily and we're concerned about keeping things clean enough so I don't get an infection,' he said on Reddit.
The couple started the fundraiser as a way to ask for help with medical bills, permanent housing, and upcoming expenses
'Unfortunately, we already spent what little savings we had and I won't be able to work for a while.'
The couple started the fundraiser as a way to ask for help with medical bills, permanent housing, and upcoming expenses.
'So now time is of the essence and I'm humbly and embarrassingly asking for help again,' Cano wrote on Facebook.
