A man was left fighting for his life in a coma after a gin distillery explosion saw him “engulfed in a fireball”.
Leigh Taylor, 45, was distilling a new spirit in the brewery where he worked when the container overpressurised and exploded, blowing the roof off the building.
The dad-of-two was engulfed in flames – with his face, hands, and legs scorched by the blaze – and was rushed to hospital, where he spent five weeks in a coma.
He “died for eight minutes” after having a cardiac arrest while in a coma three weeks after the accident, but luckily was revived by doctors.
Leigh, based in the Lake District in Cumbria, had skin grafted from his back onto his hands and legs.
It took months for his airways to heal because he inhaled fire during the incident, leaving his system weakened from scarring and susceptible to chest infections and pneumonia.
Despite a painful recovery process, Leigh is now healed and well, describing his survival as “a miracle,” – echoed by the doctors and surgeons who treated him.
Two years on, Leigh is fundraising in support of Great North Air Ambulance and the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, after feeling his survival must have been for “a purpose”.
Leigh, who is not currently working due to his long-term illness, said: “I was engulfed in a fireball.
“I remember being pulled out of the rubble, conscious, and I saw the skin on my hands was melted and hanging off.
“I heard sirens, and I could feel myself slipping away – like in this liminal space between life and death – then I woke up from my coma five weeks later.
“In recovery, the pain was unlike anything I’ve ever had in my life before.
“I really struggled afterwards with the purpose of my survival. There was no logical reason for me to have survived.
“People say I’m lucky to be alive – yes, there’s an element of luck to me surviving, but would you really call what happened lucky?
Leigh, who worked at a brewery in Workington, Cumbria, was testing some new distilling equipment.
Despite being an experienced distiller, for reasons unclear, on May 13 2024, the container over-pressurised and exploded, while Leigh was standing right beside it.
He was blown across the room in a fireball and was air-lifted to Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, where he was put into a coma for his survival.
He said: “I was in pain, but the shock took over more.
“The vision of my burnt hands had me screaming in shock, and I could smell it too.
“The skin was hanging off, like in horror films.
“As far as I was aware, it was game over for me.”
Three weeks into his five-week coma, Leigh had a cardiac arrest and his heart stopped for eight minutes, and he was given two doses of adrenaline to start it again.
He had some skin grafts done on his hands while he was in the coma, but his legs were grafted after he woke up, using skin from his back and torso.
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He said: “The pain on the donor sites was like nothing else. I’ll never forget it.”
He was discharged to recover at home, heavily bandaged, in July 2024, with regular nurse and hospital appointments as his burns healed.
Thanks to the mask applied to his face by the air ambulance team, the skin on his face didn’t need to be grafted and he healed well.
He said: “There was no damage to my vision, but at one stage it was thought I might have lost my sight.”
Leigh had to go through a long process of learning to walk and move normally again, and needed a small surgery to correct some contracture on one hand.
But once physically recovered, he struggled with his mental health as he battled a string of issues related to his airways and breathing due to internal scarring from the fire, and he still deals with ongoing complications.
Leigh struggled with the idea of his “purpose” after surviving – and was determined to make the most of his second chance.
He started to get up and out, exercising as soon as he was able to.
He said: “The nurses said I’m not your average burns survivor, pushing the boundaries of my physical recovery.”
Once healed, he sold his car, handed his keys back to his landlady, and decided to take on the challenge of riding the entire UK coastline on an e-trike with his dog, Taco, in a challenge he has dubbed ‘Paws and Pedal’.
Since setting off in July 2025 from the hospital in Newcastle, where he was treated, he has completed around 2,000 miles around Scotland and Northern Ireland.
He anticipates the remaining several thousand miles to take him until the end of October, if all goes to plan.
He stays in a different location every night, being taken in by kind supporters via his social media pages, and has so far raised over $14,000.
Reflecting on his experience, Leigh said: “I’m lucky to be alive, to have my sight and my face.”
