Woman Who Sustained Burns to 60% of Her Body in Home Explosion Is Making Remarkable Recovery, Family Says

Mar. 15, 2025

Shelly Harlan’s home after the explosion.Photo:Pickens County Fire and Rescue Facebook

Pickens County Fire and Rescue Facebook

A Georgia woman who survived a home explosion in August is apparently making a remarkable recovery.

Crews arrived at the scene on Highway 53 to find a fire burning at the home and “visible signs of an explosion,“Pickens County Fire and Rescuesaid in a statement posted to Facebook.

Initially, the restaurant said, Harlan was only given a 5% chance of survival. But more than a week after the explosion, theyshared an update, revealing that Harlan was “taken off a ventilator and is able talk” on her own.

“The fact that she survived the explosion is a miracle in itself,” the restaurant wrote on Sunday, Aug. 25.

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Harlan has undergone two “successful” surgeries since the explosion, Annie’s Restaurant said.

She will likely remain in the hospital for another five months, according to the restaurant and Harlan’s daughter Sarah Grubb, who started aGoFundMe campaignfor her mother after the incident.

“She is a rock star and doing better than doctors have expected,” Grubb wrote in the description of the online fundraiser.

“The community has shown up,” McClure told the station. “Pickens County, we are small, but we are mighty.”

It is unclear what caused the explosion.

source: people.com