‘I sat outside the hospital all night’: AJ Pritchard fights back tears as he details ordeal of ‘seeing someone he loves on fire’ following girlfriend Abbie Quinnen’s horrific accident
AJ Prichard fought back tears as he detailed the horrific ordeal of seeing ‘someone he loves on fire’ after his girlfriend Abbie Quinnen was engulfed in flames.
The former Strictly professional, 26, described how a YouTube video went ‘horribly wrong’ and his girlfriend, 23, ‘caught alight so fast’, while trying to forge a vase out of a wine bottle using fire.
AJ told Lorraine on Tuesday how he sat outside the hospital all night after being banned from enterting due to Covid restrictions, after rushing his partner to A&E following the terrifying accident.
Harrowing: AJ Prichard fought back tears as he detailed the horrific ordeal of seeing ‘someone he loves on fire’ after his girlfriend Abbie Quinnen was engulfed in flames.
Holding back the tears, he said: ‘I sat outside the hospital all night, knowing she wasn’t going to even come out that night, knowing it was very serious.
‘I was outside the hospital just sat there. I didn’t know what to do.
‘Curtis was telling me to go home because she wasn’t going to be coming out yet.
Horrendous: The former Strictly professional, 26, described how a YouTube video went ‘horribly wrong’ and his girlfriend, 23, ‘caught alight so fast’, while trying to forge a vase out of a wine bottle using fire
‘I just couldn’t leave her side, even though I couldn’t go into the hospital because of COVID. I just waited for her.
‘She ended up staying in hospital for five nights, moving from the intensive care unit at Ealing to the burns unit at Chelsea and Westminster.’
Following the January 19th incident, Abbie has undergone three skin grafts, and while doctors are unsure about what exactly her recovery will look like going forward, AJ admitted the possibility of laser treatment to help heal certain areas has been discussed.
But for now, medics have dubbed her ‘Super Abbie’ because she is ‘healing fantastically’.
AJ said: ‘The surgeons have done a fantastic job. Regarding moving forward with her recovery, the doctors have talked to us but they don’t know.
‘She’s healing fantastic. They call her Super Abbie, because her skin is doing amazing.
‘We feed her the best foods to give her all the nutrition we can do.
‘Further down the line, there is an option of having laser on certain areas to help heal.
‘But right now, it’s just focusing on what we can do each day, and seeing those small improvements, which feel like massive steps forward.’
AJ’s brother Curtis Pritchard added: ‘Time will tell, that’s the main thing.’
The former ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ pro admitted it was the ‘happiest day of his life’ when Abbie was able to come home from hospital.
Speaking on ‘This Morning’, he added: ‘Picking her up from hospital was the happiest day of my life.