SAN ANTONIO – A truck driver who survived the AGE Refinery explosion and resulting fire is talking about the ordeal as it nears the two year anniversary.
Allen Ramirez said he was filling his tanker truck when the overflowing fuel caught fire on May 5, 2010.
Ramirez said he ran away as fast as he could.
"By the time I went like 50 yards, the whole thing exploded and threw me to the ground," said Ramirez. "And, all that fluid that was on the ground caught up to me. I was on fire. I don't know how long, but it felt like a long time."
Amazingly, Ramirez rolled away and made it across the street. He was burned on 75 percent of his body.
"When I woke up, it was like five months went by. That what it felt like," he said.
Two years and two dozen surgeries later, Ramirez is a near daily visitor at the burn rehabilitation clinic at the Brooke Army Medical Center.
"When you're working out with the therapists, they push it to your limit. You try to be brave and deal with the pain, but the pain is always there," he said.
His wife Mary said he's one tough husband.
"They gave him a 50-50 chance. They were very shocked. They say he's a miracle he's here," she said.
Ramirez gives credit to the soldiers at San Antonio Military Medical Center who inspire him, and the doctors and nurses who spurred him on.
"When I was in the hospital in those five months, they were talking to me, in my mind, motivating me not to fall into a depression," he said.
The Ramirez family received a settlement from the trucking company for which he worked along with AGE.
The refinery ended up filing for bankruptcy and is now owned by NuStar.