Love Island’s Sophie Lee opens up about terrible accident that left burn scars on her face

‘I’m lucky to be alive’

2 weeks ago

Motivational speaker Sophie Lee is one of the OG Love Islanders this year, and she has opened up about the devastating accident that has left burn scars on her face.

The 25-year-old used to be a fire breather and suffered near-fatal burns while working at an event in Chicago in 2022 after the air-con was too strong.

“I was at a charity event and the air con blew the fire back in my face and it hit from my chest to just below my eyes,” she told The Tab. “I’m lucky to be alive.”

Her whole face and chest went up in flames, and she was rushed to an American hospital, where she spent a whole month in intensive care by herself.

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Sophie couldn’t breathe or eat on her own, and she could hardly even see because the injuries were so bad. She told The Tab that the burns then escalated into a keloid tumour.

“I became an international case study,” she said. “I had to inject liquid nitrogen into the tumour twice and then move on to steroid injections.”

She felt like a “guinea pig to the treatments” who had basically “signed her life over”. When the steroids stopped working, Sophie then had to have chemotherapy, which “took it out of her”.

After multiple surgeries, doctors were able to heal the burns and reconstruct her face, but the Love Islander said the accident still impacts her dating life to this day.

“This journey will always impact my dating life. Sometimes I’m not feeling sexy and cute, but now I’m ready to find my person,” she said.

Sophie has written a book about her experience called “In My Skin,” where she opened up about the trauma she faced.

“I hope that from sharing my experience of racial discrimination, feeling outcast throughout my life, battling depression and eventually reaching the process of surgery, it becomes a read that others find helpful in their own journeys,” she said on Instagram.