From garden shed to the RAH Burns Unit — Gregory Orr’s warning on wet cement burns

Gregory Orr is pretty handy on the tools, so he decided to lay a concrete base for a backyard garden shed, but one mistake saw him rushed to the RAH Burns Unit and now he wants others to avoid the same hazard. See the pictures here.

Gregory Orr thought laying a concrete base for a backyard garden shed would be fairly easy — instead he has spent the past fortnight in the RAH Burns Unit after severe burns to his legs from wet cement.

Mr Orr, 65, of Crystal Brook, was flown from Crystal Brook Hospital to the RAH in agony and has needed skin grafts on both legs from the deep burns.

Gregory Orr of Crystal Brook in the RAH Burns Unit after suffering severe leg burns from wet cement. Picture Gregory Orr

Mr Orr’s legs after graft surgery for severe burns. Picture Gregory Orr

He was laying a base for a garden shed and was screeding the mix when his back became sore so he decided to kneel down.

“I was wearing long work pants and got wet cement on them but thought I’d just wash them off later,” he said.

“After about half an hour I felt a burning but thought it was just my pants rubbing and thought ‘toughen up princess’ — I had $1000 worth of cement delivered so persevered.

“But after about an hour I just had to get my pants off and when I pulled them down this is what greeted me.”

The father of two daughters had worked in the building industry all his life and has even driven cement delivery trucks but had never heard of wet cement causing burns in this way.

“I want to get the word out to be careful, there would be lots of people who might do a handyman job with cement who would have no idea of the burn danger,” he said.

“The wet cement’s alkaline acid starts eating into the skin and doesn’t stop. The Burns Unit people tell me they see it all the time — another chap was in here with the same thing.

“It has been horrific, I have never had such pain in my life, and would not want it to happen to anyone else.”