Jay Leno’s face was “a wall of fire,” said the friend who saved him in his first TV interview

Jay Leno retains a sense of humor in his early days interviews since the November 12 car fire, which left him with severe second-degree burns to his face, upper body, left arm and hands.

Previous The Tonight Show The host, 72, sat down with Hoda Kotb, in the 140,000-square-foot Burbank classic parking garage, for an interview that aired Wednesday. today. He also gave an interview to print People magazine.

“The fact that I have smooth skin, plump lips, and a taut butt has nothing to do with the accident,” Leno quipped. today In an interview she saw him tell joke after joke. “This was all secondary.”

Leno was in his garage, with his old friend Dave Kilkey, working on his 1907 White Steam car, which had a clogged fuel line. was under the car. Air was blown across the impeded line, and Leno was hit in the face with gas. At that point, the pilot’s light jumped and “my face was on fire.”

Kilkey, who was a few feet away, said Leno was “downplaying” what happened but was “overwhelmed”. His friend couldn’t see [Leno’s] Face. It was a wall of fire.

Leno showed a white steam car in 1907 Jay Leno Garage:

Leno went to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face. When Killacky joined him, he said Jay Leno Garage The host’s injuries were “horrific…when the first two classes [of skin] Now flake, you know, that’s a real problem. He called 911 for his friend and the paramedics arrived.

When the doctors saw Lino, they advised him to go to a burn center immediately. But he said, “I went home right after that,” and I stayed there all night. He explained of that decision, “Well, my wife of 42 years, Mavis,” doesn’t drive anymore. I didn’t want her stuck and not knowing what was going on. It seemed like the right thing to do – and I think it was. Leno, who joked that Mavis was “happy” when she saw him with his burns, went to the burn center the next day.

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The couple spent the next nine days at the Grossman Bern Center, with Mavis sleeping next to him. The treatment process involved doctors scraping away layers of burned skin, obviously a painful process. They said Leno never complained while he was there, cheering patients up instead and serving pizza to nurses.

Leno underwent two skin grafts (one with the skin of a human cadaver and the other with pig intestines, according to People) to regenerate new, healthy skin on his face and neck. His ear had to be reconstructed. His hands were also badly burned. Kotb indicated that Leno provided many pictures of his injuries, but today I won’t show them all.

For eight hours a day, he was in the hyperbaric chamber—which he described as a sealed glass coffin—to help oxygenate the tissues and help him heal. He said he would think about what he did and come up with new jokes to pass the time.

From the TV interview alone, one probably wouldn’t even be able to tell that Leno had just gone through this ordeal. Qutb asked if he was worried about how he looked.

“When you look like me, you don’t really worry about what you look like,” Leno joked. “If I were George Clooney, that would be a big deal.”

A week and a half after being released from the burn center, Leno is back on stage telling jokes for a private event. He said that people in the audience “thought it was going to be more stressful” than it was. “People are disappointed that you are not a briquette.”

Of keeping a sense of humor about the whole thing and not complaining publicly, Leno said, “In the real world… people who work with their hands get injured every single day. I don’t want to be one of those whining celebrities. Oh, boho. I don’t want to be one of those people.” “I have all these cars and this beautiful house and look what happened to me!” People are like: Shut up!

For the record, Leno isn’t skittish about getting back under his cars, his longtime hobby. He replied, “No.” “Did you learn from this? Of course not.”

In an interview with Leno PeopleHe said that while his face was on fire, it felt “like probably the most intense sunburn I’ve ever had, it would be fair to say”. He also said he knew to close his eyes and hold his breath, before being pulled out from under the car, because, “I’m not a panicked guy, but I knew if I inhaled I’d burn my lungs out. I was under the car maybe 10 seconds before Dave pulled me out.” To lose my eyes for much longer than that.”

He also said that he refused to take painkillers during any time, quipping, “Pain is a reminder that I’m an idiot!”

Leno also talked about all the love he received after the news broke. Received a phone call from President Biden. John Travolta sent him a “large Italian basket.” Tom Selleck sent flowers. Russell Crowe has arrived from Australia.

“I’ve been in this business for a long time and I feel like the love has been really touching,” he told the outlet.