Jay Leno jokes about 'brand new face' after sustaining burn injuries
Jay Leno has discussed the accident that left him with burn injuries on his face and body.
In a new Wall Street Journal column, the 72-year-old comedian opened up about the accident in which he was sprayed with gas from a fuel leak in the 1907 White Steam car he was working on at the time.
The gas ignited, and Jay sustained "a mixture of deep second-degree burns and possibly some third-degree burns" to his face, hands and chest, according to his doctor.
"But really, it was an accident, that's all," Jay wrote in his column. "Anybody who works with their hands on a regular basis is going to have an accident at some point. If you play football, you get a concussion or a broken leg."
He summarised, "Anything you do, there's a risk factor."
While recounting the incident, Jay demonstrated the comedy he would wring from it, writing, "Eight days later, I had a brand new face... And it's better than what was there before."
He concluded, "There's nothing worse than whiny celebrities. If you joke about it, people laugh along with you."
Jay spent 10 days at Los Angeles' Grossman Burn Center in November and underwent at least two surgeries, including a skin grafting procedure, before being discharged.
The hospital said in an official statement Jay would "receive follow-up care" at the facility.
The funnyman wasted no time in getting back to performing and returned to his usual Sunday stand-up slot at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, California on 27 November.
