Woman burned trying to save dog in US national park

A woman has suffered extensive burns after trying to rescue her dog from a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park, authorities have said.

The woman was pulled out of the water by her father and taken to a regional hospital with “significant thermal burns” across her body.

The 20-year-old woman’s dog jumped into the near-boiling water and later died.

Authorities are investigating the incident, the latest in a string of burnings at the park.

In a statement, the US National Park Service said that the woman, a resident of Washington state, exited her vehicle to chase after her dog on 4 October.

She entered a thermal hot spring known as Maiden’s Grave Spring to retrieve the dog, which resulted in “significant thermal burns between her shoulders and feet”.

The temperature of the water at Maiden’s Grave is 200F (93C), according to park officials.

After being pulled out of the hot spring by her father, she was transported to a medical centre in the US state of Idaho.

“The park has learned that the dog, unfortunately, passed away,” the statement added.

While the park service did not identify the woman, a GoFundMe campaign started to seek money for her medical bills identified her as Laiha Slayton.

On Instagram, Ms Slayton’s sister wrote that she suffered mostly second degree burns during her approximately eight seconds in the scalding water.

“This means that our dad pulled her out insanely fast,” Kamilla Slayton wrote. “She’s incredibly lucky. Dad saved her life.”

Source; BBC