Her arm was on fire and the liquid helped douse the flames on her body after she fell.
A Pennsylvania factory explosion claimed the lives of 7 workers, but one survived, quite miraculously. In an interview, the woman shared that it was liquid chocolate of all things that saved her.
Patricia Borges, a machine operator, described her frightening experience in an interview with The Associated Press. Borges, who was present when the R.M. Palmer Co. chocolate factory erupted on March 24, claimed that her arm was on fire. She tumbled into the chocolate below when the floor gave way, and the liquid helped douse the flames on her body. "When I began to burn, I thought it was the end for me. I asked God why he was giving me such a horrible death," she added. "I asked him to save me because I didn't want to die in the fire."
Borges, 50, is currently at a West Reading hospital, where she's recovering from burns, broken heels, and a broken collarbone, per PEOPLE. Borges said factory employees reported a strong gas odor about 30 minutes before the explosion and asked a supervisor "what was going to be done" and if they were "going to be evacuated."
When the explosion happened, Borges was propelled off the ladder she was working on. She got up to run for safety when she fell through the floor and landed inside the tank. Borges found herself chest-high in chocolate.
Borges screamed for help for nine hours before firefighters responded to the scene and eventually found the bodies of seven victims buried beneath the rubble. “The only thing I wanted was to get out of there,” she said.
Later that evening, rescue teams overheard her pleas for assistance. Borges was rescued as she was freezing and taken to the hospital. "She was severely hypothermic and banged up," said Philadelphia Fire Department captain Ken Pagurek, describing Borges as conscious but in an "absolutely confused" state.
"I wanted to speak so that this will be prevented in the future," she told AP, sharing that one of her close friends was one of the coworkers killed, and she wants justice for her and other workers who died there. "For my colleague Judy, I want there to be justice," she shared.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spoke to Borges, according to family members. Borges' family members have set up a GoFundMe to help her in the "long journey ahead" as she recovers. "We are looking for monetary assistance to aid in her rehabilitation, as well as empower her to recover comfortably. All funds will go towards her care, quality of life modifications due to her limiting injuries (namely wheelchair access), food and water, and general day-to-day needs," the fundraiser reads.
References:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/rm-palmer-explosion-survivor-patricia-borges
Cover Image Source: GoFundMe
