27-year-old mum, Kirsten Ashby, was set on fire by her sadistic neighbour when she went to the aid of his girlfriend. She has now described how she died and came back to life after the fiery attack.
The young mum, from Milton Keynes, went to the aid of Lauren Russell, who was suffering a fit, but her boyfriend James Bowen flew into a drug-fuelled rage when Kirsten suggested calling an ambulance.
Bowen, who had drunk a bottle of Jack Daniels and taken cocaine, feared social services would take away their five children, so he poured petrol on Kirsten, set her on fire, then smirked as her face melted away.
Bowen has been jailed for life for the crime.
James Bowen
Speaking to TalkRadio’s Iain Lee, Kirsten revealed that as she fought for her life in coma, she “had a few dreams” including one where her daughter Maddison appeared.
She said: “One of them was standing there and being given an option. I could live or I could die. First of all, I chose to die. I was going down, I was falling and falling, and then I got given a second chance.
“In my dream I was asked again, ‘Do you want to live or do you want to die?’ Within that second, Maddison popped into my head. And I said, ‘No, I’m going to live.’ I came back up and carried on fighting my way through.”
His sentencing hearing heard how he threw petrol over her and stood smoking a cigarette while he set it alight with a smug look on his face.
“I was running my hands through my hair, trying to get the fire out. Then I just remember falling down on my knees,” said Kirsten. “I couldn’t run out of the door to get water because the two kids were standing there. And I couldn’t run to the other side of the room because he had spilled alcohol over the floor. If I’d have been there the whole flat could have gone up.
“The next time I opened my eyes I saw the other neighbour standing there and there were two big yellow blobs, but it was the police in their jackets. Then I closed my eyes again and I woke up in Chelsea and Westminster.”
Kirsten before the fire incident
