MCKINNEY - Leather flip flops proved little protection from the blistering hot ground for a McKinney woman who suffered second degree burns on her feet during a short walk.
Rebecca Friesen thought she was taking a quick 15 minute walk to the grocery store, but that a difficult trek with the temperature at 108 degrees outside.
“My feet started burning when I was almost there, I figured probably because it was hot outside," she said. "So, I kept walking, and on my way back it started hurting really, really, really bad and just got worse, worse, worse and worse."
She barely made it home.
“My feet were like burning like they were on fire and so I looked at them and there were blisters already," she said.
She was wearing leather flip flops, but they weren't' enough protection for the hot pavement. She went to the emergency room to get treatment for her blisters.
"They told me that I have second degree burns on my pads of my feet and a couple of my toes," she said.
Doctors said Friesen's case is not unusual, reporting that they have seen other cases and warn in that people need to be cautious with the hot temperatures. Experts say temperatures on concrete can get to as high as 145 degrees.
“Basically, as always, you hear people trying to cook an egg on a sidewalk," said Dr. Alex Eastman, who works at U.T. Southwestern Medical Center of Dallas. "An egg cooks at about 155 to 158 degrees. You're not quite to that point, but human skin burns as quickly as about five seconds at 145 degrees."
Doctors said if you're going to walk on hot surfaces, you should wear thicker shoes.
“Because you will have more insulation from whatever the heat source is," Eastman said.
Friesen said she wishes she had worn thicker-soled shoes because now she has to wear bandages on her feet for at least two weeks.
E-mail: rlopez@wfaa.com
