A man who spent months fighting for his life after being set alight by his uncle has spoken about the terrifying ordeal – and now looks unrecognisable after having surgery.
Terry Dunnage, now 47, a builder from Portsmouth, was left feeling as though he was going to die when he was set on fire by his paranoid schizophrenic uncle in 2007, leaving 46 per cent of his body burned.
The horrific attack left him with no eyebrows and red scarred skin all over his face which caused him to become a ‘recluse’ who avoided mirrors because he did not like his reflection.
‘I remember being handed the mirror for the first time, it was like a monster looking back at me because I’d never seen anything like that before,’ he told Channel 4‘s new programme, Love My Face.
The show tells the stories of people who feel insecure and unhappy with their appearances and gives them the opportunity to have treatment by medical professionals in a clinic in Yorkshire.
Terry explained that he was flicking through a copy of Auto Trader on his dining table in Paignton, Devon when his uncle, Vincent Randall, 45, arrived wanting a cup of tea, which was ‘not unusual’.
He told Terry – who was around 29 at the time – to hang tight while he got the latest issue of the magazine from the back of his car.
But he came back with a lighter and a can of petrol instead, slamming the door behind him.
Terry was left fighting for his life in hospital for months after both him and his uncle were set alight. Pictured after leaving hospital
Terry is pictured wearing a hat and gloves while recovering from the burns and scars. Pictured in 2015
Terry Dunnage, a builder from Portsmouth, (pictured before transformation) was left scarred after his schizophrenic uncle set them both alight in 2007
‘He’s looking for answers to some delusions that we can’t give to him,’ Terry said.
‘He proceeded to pour petrol on his own head and I was trying to talk him down and he threw petrol towards me and it splashed all up my front.
‘Next thing, my partner went to walk out the door and the minute he turned on her I just jumped up and we grabbed each other.’
‘The petrol can dropped on the floor but at the same time I could hear the sound of the spark. It was like a backdraft of a big fireball.’
Terry then jumped from the first-floor balcony of his house while on fire, while ripping off his burning clothes.
He said: ‘It was like a scene out of RoboCop. I had to have skin grafts, they read my final rites twice. I thought I wasn’t going to make it.’
Neighbours called 999 but school cleaner Vincent could not be saved and Terry was taken to hospital and put in an induced coma for five weeks while medics attempted to repair the damage to his face, arms, torso and ankle.
Vincent was said to have become increasingly delusional before his death and was convinced people were following him, accusing Terry and his partner of being involved.
Terry (pictured after transformation) said he’s now more confident and feels like he’s no longer chained by his past experiences
The police tape shows the scene of the horrific incident which happened at Terry’s home in Paignton, Devon
The schizophrenic poured petrol over himself and said ‘Tell me the truth or we’re all going up’. Terry attempted to grab the lighter, but it was ignited by Vincent, and the pair went up in a horrific ball of flames.
The frightening experience caused Terry to ‘lose himself’ after growing up ‘very confident’ in his childhood.
He added: ‘One thing someone said to me once was ‘Have you been to a stag do and someone’s shaved your eyebrows?’ I can take it all as a joke but I’d rather not be asked about it to be honest.’
He was meant to have two sets of treatments to help his eyebrows regrow on the NHS, however, he was only able to have one because one of the few people who was able to carry out the procedure had left their role.
Terry said that having the procedure done privately was ‘always priced out of my reach’ and he was so distraught from the burns that he tried to kill himself twice.
The tradesman got a tattoo on his face four years after the attack to take the attention away from his scars and attempt to mask them.
Dr Bessam Farjo, a leading hairloss and hair transplant surgeon, was tasked with treating Terry but admitted that it may not be a straightforward procedure, as eyebrow hair can be difficult emulate as they grow in all different directions.
‘We need to make extra effort in making sure the angles and the direction match that,’ he said, adding that scarred skin may be difficult to implement hairs into.
Terry (pictured before the fire incident left and after right) jumped from the first-floor balcony of his house while on fire, while ripping off his burning clothes and was put in a coma for five weeks
The tradesman had laser treatments to remove the redness on his face and his tattoo
Terry said: ‘I don’t want to be a survivor of my story anymore, I want to get back to who I was.’
Through the clinic, Terry had a hair transplant on his head and on his eyebrows and laser treatment to remove the redness and his face tattoo by Dr Saqib Bashir.
After having the treatments, Terry looks almost unrecognisable and says he finds himself admiring the work that has been done to his face and hair.
‘I feel body confident when I look in the mirror now,’ Terry said, adding that people have pointed out his transformation.
‘This has definitely changed my life’s journey moving forward, 100 per cent.
‘I feel like I’ve broken the chain off, I’m no longer a prisoner to this story anymore.’
In 2015, Terry won a court case against Direct Line Group as he tried to claim on his uncle’s insurance after the incident.
However, the company refused to pay out after it claimed Vincent’s mental illness meant he was not liable.
However after a long legal battle, three appeal court judges ruled the insurer was wrong, and Terry – who had to re-learn to walk and talk after the attack – would be awarded a payout of £1million.
For help or support, visit samaritans.org or call Samaritans for free on 116 123
