After initially being taken to the hospital after his horrific gasoline fire accident, Jay Leno was told by doctors he needed specific care at a burn center.
Instead of being transferred to the Grossman Burn Center, where he would eventually find himself for nine days, Leno decided to drive himself home to his wife Mavis.
“I drove home right after that,” Leno revealed to Hoda Kotb on “Today.”
Much to Kotb’s shock, Leno confirmed he was behind the wheel and decided to spend the night at home after the accident, rather than a hospital bed. “My wife doesn’t drive anymore,” he explained. “I didn’t want her struck and not knowing what was going on. It just seemed like the right thing to do, and I think it was.”
Jay Leno recounted the moments after his face caught on fire during a gasoline accident at his garage.
(Rodin Eckenroth)
JAY LENO WANTS TO JOKE ABOUT HIS FACIAL BURNS: ‘THERE’S NOTHING WORSE THAN WHINY CELEBRITIES’
“So you loved your wife more than you worried about yourself,” Kotb asked the 72-year-old.
“Yah that’s it,” he replied sarcastically, before adding, “I think there’s something to that.”
Jay Leno has been married to his wife Mavis since 1980. The couple have no children.
(Michael Tullberg)
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The incident, which took place at his Burbank garage, happened when the former “Tonight Show” host was working on his 1907 white steam-car when he realized the fuel line was clogged.
He was underneath the car, trying to unclog the line when he asked for air to be blown through.
“Suddenly, I get a face full of gas and the pilot light jumped, and my face caught on fire,” he said of the accident.
A prominent burn can be seen on Jay Leno’s arm as he is pictured in Los Angeles after his accident.
(MEGA/GC Images)
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Luckily, his good friend Dave Killackey was on the scene and took matters into his own hands – literally.
“I just grabbed him…I grabbed him by the head and I pulled his head into my chest,” Killackey described to Kotb.
“I thought it was a bad Tinder date,” Leno joked of his friend’s actions.
Killackey went on to describe Leno’s face as “a wall of fire,” and that he told his friend to “put cold water on his face” in the bathroom.
Jay Leno has already returned to comedy since his accident.
(MEGA/GC Images)
Over the course of his recovery, Leno received a plethora of cards and flowers along with get-well-soon wishes.
He was even phoned by President Biden himself.
“‘I’m surprised you don’t have more important things to do, but thank you, Mr. President,'” Leno joked of his reaction to having the president of the United States giving him a personal message.
