I was doused in gasoline and set alight by a STRANGER… I didn’t recognise my face & kept asking ‘why did she do this?’
SCRAMBLING for water, mother-of-two Joie Hellmich could smell the stench of greasy gasoline soaking into her skin.
Then, as she turned around, she saw the match – and life as she knew it would never been the same again.
The 39-year-old gas station employee had been getting on with an ordinary day at work, heading out on her lunch break to kindly bring some food back for her colleagues.
When she returned, Joie noticed a big queue forming at the counter, so decided to help a fellow worker out and serve some customers.
Only, the next person in line doused her in gasoline, before throwing a lit match at her.
Joie, from Florida, went up in flames and suffered second and third degree burns to over 30 per cent of her body.
Incredibly, it was a cruel act of revenge.
Just minutes earlier, Betty McFadden, 31, had been panhandling outside the petrol station, pestering customers for money. After staff asked her to leave, Betty returned and set Joie on fire.
In February this year McFadden was jailed for life for attempted murder.
Now Joie is bravely speaking out about the horrific attack and wants to raise awareness for burns survivors.
She says: “At first I kept thinking, if I’d been just five minutes late back from lunch, it wouldn’t have happened to me.
“But I can’t torment myself with what ifs. I won’t let the attack ruin my life.”
Joie had worked in the petrol station for several years and worked hard to provide for her children, now 20 and 14.
She loved meeting new people and had regular customers who she got to know and chatted with.
In March 2022, Joie went to work as normal. By lunchtime, she offered to do a food run for her two colleagues. driving 15 minutes to a local BBQ restaurant.
Arriving back with the food, she walked into the station to see a long line of customers at the till.
She says: “I wanted to help bring the queue down, so I hopped onto the checkout and called for the next person in line.
“A lady stepped forward holding a jerry can. I’d never seen her before in my life.”
Up in flames
Suddenly Joie felt liquid splash on to her face.
She realised immediately that it was petrol and it stung her eyes.
Joie recalls: “Terrified, I ran to the back room where the sink was.
“But as I tried to wash it out, I saw the stranger out of the corner of my eye.
“She was holding a match.”
Seconds later, the woman lit it, and Joie went up in flames.
“When I looked at myself for the first time I didn’t look like me. I was devastated.
Joie Hellmich
She remembers: “There was no space to stop, drop and roll, so I screamed for help as the fire raged all over my body and face.
“Thankfully a bystander raced in and dropped a mop bucket of water over me and the flames went out.”
Afterwards, Joie slumped onto the floor in shock.
The emergency services were called and five minutes later, paramedics arrived and she was rushed via ambulance to the USA Burn Centre where she was induced into a coma.
While under, she endured seven skin graft surgeries to her burns where donor skin was taken from her left leg.
A week later, she woke up with a tube down her throat.
A nurse informed her that she’d suffered second and third degree burns to 30 per cent of her body and that surgeons had managed to save her hands as they’d been severely burnt.
Joie’s long blonde hair, which was her pride and joy, was completely singed off.
“I want other burns survivors to know life will continue, just take it one day at a time.
Joie Hellmich
She says: “I’d been left with a spiky buzz cut. It was awful.
“When I looked at myself for the first time I didn’t look like me. I was devastated.
“My face was patchy and red raw. It even hurt to smile.”
Harrowing treatment
Joie then endured daily skin scrubs and dressing changes which she described as “agony”.
A week later, a police officer visited to take her statement.
Joie’s attacker had been arrested at the scene and charged with attempted murder.
Joie says: “I’d never seen her before, so was shocked that she targeted me.
“I kept thinking, ‘why me?’ She was clearly mentally unstable.”
After three months in hospital, including physio exercises to help her move her hands again, Joie was discharged.
Back at home she went for massages three times a week and laser treatment once a week for her burns.
While Joie continued her recovery, her attacker, McFadden, was initially deemed unfit for trial after a mental health assessment.
But over a year on, in November 2023, she finally pleaded guilty.
In February this year, Betty McFadden was sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder.
Joie says: “I faced her in court and she looked un-remorseful.
“I was relieved she was punished for what she did.
“I got justice in the end.”
Joie is now disabled as her hands do not work properly, so she’s unable to return to her job.
But she has a positive outlook for the future.
She adds: “I want other burns survivors to know life will continue, just take it one day at a time.
“My scars are slowly healing and I won’t let it rob me of my future.”