Pre Valentine Hazzards. Woman, 22, scarred for life after spilling hot oil while cooking romantic Valentine's Day meal for new boyfriend
Mercedes Bishop, 22, ended up scarred for life while preparing her signature dish - spring rolls - for new man Simon Perl, also 22.
She poured flaming oil all over herself after tripping over her cat while putting out a pan fire.
The lab technician was left with burns to 35 per cent of her body.
Three years on from the Valentine's Day 2013 disaster, and following ten painful skin grafts, Mercedes is speaking out in order to help raise awareness for other burns survivors.
Mercedes said: "Simon and I had only been together for five months, so I was hoping to impress him with my signature dish - pork and cabbage spring rolls.
But as the oil was sizzling in the pan, it set on fire. The flames were huge, almost touching the ceiling.
"I knew that throwing water on the oil would just make things worse, so I decided to try and take the pan outside through the kitchen door and put the fire out safely."
But as Mercedes fled to the door, she tripped over her cat - five-year-old shorthair, Turbo - and spilled the flaming oil down her chest and arms.
Mercedes said: "I was instantly set on fire. It was absolutely agonising.
"I could smell my skin burning, which made me feel sick.
"I managed to make it outside, where I threw down the pan and frantically rolled around on the grass, trying to put out the flames from my clothes.
"By this point, my hands had swollen to twice their size and were covered in pus-filled blisters.
"My shorts were sticking to my fried flesh, and my entire body was throbbing.
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Within minutes, paramedics arrived and wrapped Mercedes in cling-film to try and protect her burned skin.
She was then rushed by ambulance to the burns unit at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland City.
Mercedes said: "I was slipping in and out of consciousness, but all I could think of was how I'd ruined my romantic meal with Simon."
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