Bungling boyfriend steps in to help girlfriend cook - and gets third degree burns to the face

A hapless wannabe chef who stepped in to help his girlfriend cook dinner was left with third degree burns - after a pressure cooker exploded in his face.

Bungling Clark Bailey, 28, thought he would get brownie points for checking on the chicken casserole his partner Vicky Snook, 30, was making.

But he didn't realise she had borrowed a pressure cooker from a friend to cook the dish - and when he tried to force the lid off it blew up.

The pan lid smacked him in the forehead, spraying boiling hot water all over his face, arms and hands.

Call centre worker Clark wrapped wet towels round his head to soothe the burning before he was rushed to hospital by ambulance.

Luckily his blistered skin healed well and doctors say his scars will eventually face away completely.

Clark, from Mere, Wilts., yesterday (Sun) admitted the potentially deadly accident was his "own silly fault".

He said: "I was trying to be helpful with the cooking - but really I was interfering.

"I didn't realise that Vicky was using a pressure cooker. I checked how the casserole was cooking and put the lid on it.

"When I went back to it to check it 20 minutes later I struggled to pull the lid off. I gave it a really good tug and the lid flew off and hit me on the head.

"I don't really remember the pain of the burns as I was in so much shock. I was so worried that I had ruined dinner, apparently that is all I kept saying.

"Vicky rapped my head in wet towels and I ran my hands under a tap until the paramedics arrived.

"I didn't scream. I yelped like a dog does when someone stands on it. I was laughing and joking in the ambulance as I could appreciate the funny side.

"I had food in my hair for two weeks as I was not allowed to get my dressings wet so I couldn't have a shower.

"I regret not leaving Vicky to it with the cooking. It was my own silly fault. But it could have been a lot worse.

"Luckily I had my glasses on otherwise I could have lost my sight. "

The incident happened at shop assistant Vicky's home in Southampton and Clark spent more than two hours in Southampton General Hospital having his burns treated.

The father-of-three, who says he will never buy his own pressure cooker, added: "We ate what was left of the casserole when we got back from the hospital - it was very nice."

In 2011, an elderly woman almost bled to death after her pressure cooker exploded and brutally severed her leg in Miami, US.

Pressure cookers have been misused by terrorists for make-shift bombs including for the attack on the Boston marathon last month.