Cousins burned in Great Cornard pub fire to climb Scafell Pike

Cousins April, 29, and Ashleigh Charlesworth, 28, went to the Great Cornard King’s Head pub as part of celebrations for April’s 28th Birthday.

It was their first night out after lockdown, but the night took a turn for the worse after a man threw ethanol onto a heater, causing the bottle of fuel to explode.

The next thing the cousins knew, they were both on fire.

Ashleigh said: “There was a group of males and ladies. There had been an argument between some of the girls as there often are on girls' nights, and they got up and walked off, so I went to sit next to April to make sure she was ok.

April and Ashleigh were celebrating April's 28th birthday before their lives changed (Image: Ashleigh Charlesworth)

"I saw a flicker out the corner of my eye, didn't think anything of it, and the next thing I knew we were both on fire.

“Being a nurse, I put my hands in front of my face and ran away from people, stopped and rolled. How I remembered to do that in that moment who knows.

“April ran towards people looking for help so they put her out and then they came and helped put me out.”

Ashleigh and April were taken to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, which is where they spent time in intensive care. They were then moved to the burns ward.

Now, a year since the fire, the cousins have decided to climb the highest mountain in England, Scafell Pike, on April 30.

Ashleigh said: “The year of the fire, I had planned to climb it with a friend anyway just for fun because we are mad, and then I obviously had to recover and I said, why don’t we look to do it around the year anniversary. Because then we can turn it into something positive rather than sit here and think ‘God, last year’, which I still am doing - don’t get me wrong, like today (April 25) for example, this day last year I was in intensive care on life support.

"Climbing a mountain probably wasn’t on April’s agenda if I’m honest, it was my idea and I kind of dragged her into it but I will pull her up if I have to, we will get there."

Ashleigh (left) and April (right) were taken to hospital and put in intensive care on life support for a couple of days before moving to the burn ward. (Image: Ashleigh and April Charlesworth)

The pair will be raising money for the Katie Piper Foundation, a foundation that is set up to help and support burns victims, and has helped them a lot this past year.

“I was struggling with my mental health as you can imagine, so April suggested I reach out to them and they provide bespoke packages of care.

“They are always just a phone call away and were a huge help, because even though I am a nurse, I am an A&E nurse, not a burns nurse.

“So, in that initial period, we were thinking, what do we do, what can we expect, what’s to come?

“The Katie Piper Foundation will be here for as long as we need them, and they are really amazing.”

There will be five people doing the climb. Ashleigh and April, Ashleigh’s best friend, and then two of their best friends who were at the pub the night of the fire.

“We are going up the night before and staying there, that way we can start setting off early.

"We are just going to take our time with it and take it all in.

"April and I are probably going to look like we are robbing people because we will have to wear balaclavas and things like that to cover our faces because of the wind, so as long as people don’t think we are going to rob them at the top of the mountain we will be alright!"

You can donate to the girls, and to the Katie Piper Foundation here.