A former Waipawa woman caught in the crossfire of an alleged firebomb attack in Australia says it felt like she was being “flash fried”.
Penelope (Penny) Travers was left with burns to 25% of her body, including her face, neck, chest and arms, after the first of two vehicle fires in her Western Australia carport caused an explosion.
Mandurah detectives are investigating the two suspicious vehicle fires.
Travers, who has lived in Australia for almost 15 years, has since undergone surgery.
She will wear compression garments for the next year to help with the scarring, though the emotional scars will be ongoing.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help her pay her rent, utilities and food for her kids.
She said her Kiwi status means the Australian Government has very little financial support available, she said.
“I have been granted a temporary benefit but it does not cover my rent, let alone any other monthly expenses.”
Travers said the moment her life changed was when she was awoken at her home in Mandurah, Western Australia on October 6, about 4.30am to “weird noises”.
“I checked my security cameras and my carport was on fire, and I went out and tried to put it out and realised someone had thrown a petrol bomb and it caught the front of my ute on fire.”
While trying to extinguish the fire, spray paint, degreaser, and WD40 cans on a nearby shelf exploded, setting her alight.
“The first initial pain that I got was like being flash fried, the memory of that popped back in my head the other night when I was trying to go to sleep.
“It was instant heat, instant searing, instant pain.”
Travers said most of her memories of the incident were hazy, but she recalled firefighters arriving to perform first aid.
“I don’t remember the ambulance ride, that was a half-hour drive and don’t remember the first week in hospital - I have got glimpses of it in my memories.”
Travers required a 4.5-hour surgery for skin grafts, a blood transfusion and spent 17 days in the Fiona Stanley Hospital burns unit in Perth.
“I’m usually the one taking care of everyone else, so it has been very weird.”
While she was in the hospital “wrapped up like a mummy”, a week later on October 12, her vehicle was targeted and again set on fire, this time while her daughter was home alone.
“My daughter called me first thing in the morning....she was like ‘mum, they have come back’.”
Travers said this time the alleged attackers threw the firebomb through the rear window of the ute, resulting in it being written off.
When Hawke’s Bay Today spoke with Travers on Monday, almost a month on, she was on her way to hospital to have her dressings changed.
She said this was now a regular part of her routine - twice a week she travelled a 100km plus round trip to Fiona Stanley Hospital, where she is allowed to shower.
“I am so itchy, but I am doing good.”
She said she was unable to comment on who she thought was responsible, to protect the integrity of the police investigation.
The funds raised from the GoFundMe will also go towards transport costs for the trip to the hospital, dressing changes, physio and living costs.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.