Man survives car crash, gets discharged from hospital only to go home and have gas heater explode in his face

[Louis Cypher]

By ALASTAIR TAYLOR


LUCKLESS Daniel Pottas landed in hospital twice in two hours after surviving a car crash AND a gas explosion.

Staff were amazed when he was brought back into casualty 30 minutes after being discharged and told them: “I’ve just been blown up.”

Yesterday Daniel, 22, said: “People say things come in threes — I’ve had the crash and the bang . . . now I’m just waiting for the wallop.”

His first trip to A&E came when cousin Mark Pottas, 18, lost control of their Seat Ibiza and smashed into a tree.

Paramedics took them to Whitby Hospital, North Yorks, to have their cuts and bruises treated.

But minutes after returning home, Daniel tried to fix a gas heater in his bedroom and it blew up in his face.

He explained: “I tried to disconnect it and a flame just shot up into my arms and face and went up to the roof.”

But the jobless hero warned neighbours to evacuate and dialled 999. He was taken by ambulance back to A&E with burns to his arms, face and neck as fire crews battled the blaze — caused by a faulty gas cylinder.

Daniel, whose bedroom was gutted, said: “I just couldn’t believe what was happening to me.”