Man allegedly sets wife alight on Christmas Eve

A man is facing attempted murder charges after allegedly pouring a flammable solvent over his wife and then setting her alight in the early hours of Christmas Eve.

Tracy Samuels is currently being treated by the burns unit at Baragwanath hospital for second degree facial burns and 40% burns over her upper body after an alleged domestic dispute spiralled out of control.

“Tracy does contract work for me in one of my companies and uses various chemicals in waterproofing and so on,” said family spokesperson Leonard Turner.

“One of those chemicals is called MEK, which is like a raw form of acetone and her husband – I don’t know if he still lives with her or is her ex to be – had an argument with Tracy because she was talking to a friend of hers from school days who is in the UK and he threw MEK over her and set her alight,” Turner claimed.

According to TAG Solvents Products, MEK (Methyl ethyl ketone) is a hazardous substance, explosive when exposed to flames, and requires a chemical resistant protective suit to be worn when handling.

Turner said Samuels was initially taken to Helen Joseph Hospital to be stabilised for the first 48 hours to be stabilised.

“A very nice woman, Annie from the Hero Burn Foundation, assisted in getting Tracy transferred to Baragwanath burns unit which is probably the state of the art burns unit in the country.”

“Tracy isn’t on medical aid, and she’s badly burnt,” said Turner. “Some of the family and friends who have been to see her say she is in high spirits. The bandages have come off her face but she is still badly burned.”

The suspect is expected to appear in court again next week.

“Annie” is Annerie Du Plooy, founder of Hero Burn Foundation and also a burn survivor, after being involved in a light aircraft accident sand her husband pulled her from the burning wreck.

“These cases needs to be made high profile for this kind of abuse, setting another alight is getting out of hand,” Du Plooy said.

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