Hawkesbury boat explosion: Boyfriend shares horrific moments after blast

The partner of a Sydney woman left critically burned when the boat she was celebrating her 30th birthday on the Hawkesbury exploded has described the event as ‘like a terrorist attack’.

The partner of a Sydney woman left critically burned when the boat she was celebrating her 30th birthday on exploded has told of the “mayhem moment” they were engulfed by flames.

Joseph Kwon says his girlfriend Mirka Tothova is suffering horrific pain in the Intensive Burns Unit at Royal North Shore Hospital where she is undergoing skin grafts after suffering burns to 30 per cent of her body in the Easter Sunday blast.

Mirka Tothova, who works in an organic grocery store, was one of four people badly injured in the blast.

Eleven people, including a two-year-old toddler, were on board the boat when it exploded shortly after refuelling at a marina near Brooklyn, after an idyllic day spent on the Hawkesbury River.

“After we refuelled, as soon as the key was turned in the ignition, it exploded,” Mr Kwon told the Telegraph on Monday.

Mr Kwon, who was on the pontoon helping push the boat off when it ignited, recalled patting down his girlfriend who was alight.

30-year-old Mirka Tothova, who sustained serious burns to her chest, arms, hands, legs and torso.

“It’s like we were in a terrorist attack, one minute it was calm, the next it was mayhem,” he said.

“Mirka’s hair and clothes were on fire, I was patting them out with my hands.”

More than a week after the incident, four of the crew remain in Royal North Shore Hospital – with one in the intensive care unit, and another three in the intensive burns unit.

Mr Kwon said all four had been receiving painful skin grafts as well as daily procedures to clean out dead tissue which had left them “screaming in pain”.

Firefighters work to douse the flames after the explosion. Image: Greg Manning

“They’re all in incredible pain at the moment, but Mirka’s really strong, she’s a fighter,” he said.

As bad as the accident was, it could have been worse — with Mr Kwon saying the two-year-old baby had been sitting in the centre of the deck moments before it imploded, only to be moved onto the top deck minutes before the explosion.

A Go Fund Me launched on Sunday for Ms Tothova had already raised more than $26,000 by Monday morning.

Mirka, a Slovakian-raised Sydneysider who runs an organic retail store has been left with horrific burns in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

“It’s a lot of pressure off of us — that’s the last thing you want to worry about,” Mr Kwon said of the fundraising effort.

“It’s been so good to have such amazing community support.”

Part of the funds raised will be used to help bring over family members from Ms Tothova’s home country of Slovakia.

The boat caught alight soon after refuelling on Easter Sunday. Image: Greg Manning

“She moved here five years ago, so it’s hard when she has no family here — we’ve pretty much only got each other,” Mr Kwon said.

The Eastern suburbs couple, where Mr Kwon works as a personal trainer and Ms Tothova at an organic retail store, were celebrating her birthday with close friends, with Mr Kwon intending to set up a group Go Fund Me to help their recovery.

“We’re all pretty much one family,” he said.