WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — A 47-year-old man suffered serious burns after a tire blew on his work truck last week.
The crash happened on August 21 around 11:00 a.m. on I-75 near 280 milepost in Wesley Chapel.
Dawn Wenz said her husband, Richard, was working and driving a concrete truck at the time.
Troopers said the truck left the roadway, overturned and caught on fire.
"He remembers everything. He remembers flipping over, being stuck upside down with the seat belt holding him in place while the flames were going inside the whole truck. He put his hoodie over his head, trying to get out of the windshield," said Dawn Wenz, Richard's wife.
She said her husband escaped on his own. He suffered serious burns to his arms, face, and hands.
On Friday, he underwent a skin graft surgery expected to last 90 minutes at Tampa General Hospital.
"He doesn't wish it on anyone. He said it's excruciating. He says it's absolutely horrifying. He has nightmares," she said.
She said her husband is a huge Tampa Bay Rays fan and just before surgery, he learned that the county approved its end of the deal.
This week, a deal was finalized bringing the Tampa Bay Rays to Tampa.
"He's very excited. I was like they approved your stadium. He's thrilled to death and has been waiting patiently," she said.
A GoFundMe page is raising money for necessities and to help Richard with his ongoing recovery.
Dawn said he is the sole provider for their family.
"I’ll be learning how to take off the ACE bandages that are fully wrapped. I’ll be learning how to take out the gauze that’s in there and how to change everything out, clean it, make sure that it’s sanitized and re-wrap everything," she said.
She said she's grateful her husband survived.
"It could have been a lot worse. It could've been a whole different phone call to where I had lost him. Just glad he's alive. It's going to be a life-altering change," she said.
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