Today, Jason Nelson’s recovered, but he hasn’t forgotten all the people who helped him along the way.

his Wednesday will be eight years since a gas explosion in Gilbert sent an East Valley man to the hospital with third-degree burns all over his body. After 47 surgeries, two months in a coma and years of medical teams helping him recover, Jason Nelson is on a mission to inspire other survivors and raise money to help them heal.

His life changed on Feb. 9, 2014, with the gas explosion. “I decided to go out in the garage and smoke a cigarette,” said Nelson. “I didn’t know at the time there was a gas leak in the street that actually ignited when I lit my cigarette.”

With 80% of his body covered in burns, Nelson spent seven months at the Arizona Burn Center-Valleywise Health. He spent years healing from the emotional trauma. “That was probably one of the darkest times in my life, I would say,” said Nelson. “I was 40 years old at the time, pretty much incapacitated.”

Source: Arizona burn survivors to hike Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for others