Teen welder turned into ‘human fireball’ in workplace explosion that left him in a coma with ‘melted face’

A TEENAGE apprentice whose face melted after being turned into a “human fireball” in a workplace explosion has secured a six-figure pay out.

Horrific pictures show Dwayne Bell, 17, with his face blackened and skin peeling away after the blast at a steel yard in Manchester.

The now 22-year-old has secured a six-figure compensation settlement following the horror attack in March, 2021.

After suffering from third-degree burns, he spent a week in a medically induced coma.

Dwayne said: “I shouldn’t be here talking to you. I am lucky to be alive.

“It was so hot I feared I was going to be blinded the heat was so intense.

“This was an accident waiting to happen. I’m trying to move on. But I’m living in a body that feels like a prison.”

He attended Knowsley Tech College for one day a week, and spent the other four days being an apprentice at Qualfab Steel Ltd.

He said: “I was just a kid, doing what I was told. I was the youngest on site by 20 or 30 years.

“I never had any real training on the dangers of what I was doing or given any PPE safety goggles – I was just left to it.”

At the Wigan plant, Dwayne was asked to perform the routine task of burning rubbish – something he had seen his colleagues do “a hundred times”.

But disaster struck when he added paint thinner to try and ignite some damp wood in the metal barrel.

He failed to notice sparks which had already caught under the wood, which caused the cylinder filled with paper and cardboard to explode into flames.

He said: “The next thing I knew, the world just turned orange. The sound was like a jet engine.

“I was standing in the middle of a massive flame. As soon as I felt the whoosh of heat I shut my eyes as I didn’t want to go blind. It was like a bomb exploding in my face.”

Dwayne’s clothes then began to melt on him as colleagues scrambled to save his life.

He asked colleagues to take pictures of him, stating that in the moment he “felt no pain” and did not know how bad the situation really was.

He said the end of his nose “melted” and he was rushed to Whiston Hospital.

He added: “I was being constantly sick due to the breathing tubes, I couldn’t sleep because of the bleeping and I felt like I was on fire whenever I moved.

“I looked at the nurses and I just begged them to let me die.

“I couldn’t see a future. I was wrapped in bandages, I couldn’t move, and the pain was the worst I had ever experienced so I asked the nurses just to turn the machines off and let me go.”

After three weeks in hospital, his mum had to care for him.

Having ears burned to a crisp, the teen could not sleep on his side and his skin would constantly break – he called it a “living nightmare”.

Dwayne later had three skin grafts and will need further surgery.

Now, the 22-year-old has negotiated a six-figure settlement for the traumatic blast.

Senior Associate Neil Sagar, Express Solicitors, said: “Dwayne has made a miraculous recovery from his life changing injuries.

“But he still lives with the consequences of what happened everyday and his ongoing scars will affect his future career.

“Businesses need to make sure appropriate supervision and training is given to apprentices, especially when working with dangerous disposal methods.”

Dwayne is now an apprentice welder at another firm.

He said: “I have to live with the consequences of what happened there everyday. Now I just want to try and live as normal life as possible.”

Qualfab Steel Ltd has been approached for comment.