Sudbury woman who suffered horrific burns at The Kings Head in Great Cornard to scale mountain in aid of Katie Piper Foundation

Warning: This story contains graphic images

A Sudbury woman who suffered horrific third-degree burns after an incident at a pub is preparing to scale Scafell Pike to raise money for a charity that helped her.

Ashleigh Charlesworth was enjoying her first night out after coronavirus restrictions eased at The Kings Head in Great Cornard on April 24 last year, when someone sprayed ethanol onto an open flame creating a fireball that engulfed her and her cousin April, who was celebrating her birthday.

The 28-year-old nurse, who had just moved to Sudbury from Essex, said: "In the pub we were all having a good time. There were two groups of people, some girls and some blokes. I didn't know any of the blokes, they were all April’s friends.

"All of a sudden someone sprayed ethanol onto a flame. It was a completely reckless act and they did it twice.

"Next thing I know, April and I are on fire from the chest upwards. She’s running towards people and I am running away from them."

Ashleigh stopped, dropped and rolled to put out the flames, but not before they'd severely burnt the skin on her face and hands.

She was rushed to Broomfield Hospital where she was placed on a ventilator and spent two days in intensive care. Fourteen days later she was discharged.

Her cousin April was treated at West Suffolk Hospital and both the women have had countless operations and outpatient care in the year since the incident, including recent laser treatment.

Speaking to Suffolk News, Ashleigh said the journey to accepting her 'new normal' has been a long and difficult one.

"The facial recovery is still very much ongoing and we’ve both just started our laser treatments," Ashleigh said.

“Mentally it has been really difficult. There are quite a few triggers including flames and drunk people. It has been hard at times.

“In terms of my face and my scars, it has taken me a while to accept how it looks, but I am a firm believer in ‘everything happens for a reason’ and we’ve got to be comfortable in our own skin," she added.

However, Ashleigh is determined to mark the one year anniversary since the night with a fundraiser to increase awareness and money for the Katie Piper Foundation, which supports burns victims.

The pair have been helped by the foundation throughout their recovery and are looking forward to giving something back to the charity.

Ashleigh said: “The Katie Piper Foundation has been there a lot for April and I during our recovery. They provided early support when we had a lot of questions about recovery. It is a small, publicly-funded charity providing help for people with burns.

“Burns happen to people every day and actually there isn't that much support out there. It is something that is close to our hearts because it has helped us so much when our world was turned upside down.

“We are just trying to turn this one year anniversary into something positive rather than just dwelling on what has happened because we can’t change it," she added.

The idea to scale Scafell Pike, which is the tallest mountain in England and is located in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, came last year when Ashleigh and her friend said they'd like to climb a mountain for fun.

Now, with a fundraising page set up and a group of eight or nine people, including Ashleigh and April's friends and some others who work for the Katie Piper Foundation, the climb will mark how far the pair have come both mentally and physically in the past year.

To donate to Ashleigh and April's fundraiser, click here.