TV Host Odetta Schwartz Recounts Severe Acid Burn Accident

Television host Odetta Schwartz has shared details of a severe accident that occurred four months ago when strong acid spilled on her body at her home. The incident happened while she was helping her cousin organize a cleaning supplies closet. A bottle of sulfuric acid, which was not properly sealed, fell from a shelf and spilled onto Schwartz.

Schwartz described the terrifying moments, saying, "The whole terrible substance spilled on me." She explained that the acid, used for unclogging drains and dissolving tree roots, caused an intense burning sensation. "Burning, a blaze, just a blaze," she recounted. Fortunately, she reacted quickly, immediately jumping into the bathroom and sitting under lukewarm water for twenty minutes with her clothes on to prevent the acid from spreading further. She noted that cold water would have closed her pores, trapping the acid, while hot water would have intensified the burning.

Her clothes disintegrated in the water. "The clothes fell off me, disintegrated," she said, while repeatedly telling herself, "God loves you. Your recovery has begun. Everything is fine."

Schwartz then had to direct her cousin, who was in shock, to take her to the emergency room. She recounted telling her cousin, "I need an emergency room now," and when her cousin expressed her own distress, Schwartz insisted, "Shut up, it's not about you now, I don't want to hear you at all, I need an emergency room now."

Following her arrival at the ER, Schwartz was hospitalized at Ichilov Hospital for a month, undergoing skin grafts and extensive treatment. She considers the incident a miracle and continues to struggle with the physical and psychological aftermath, experiencing nightmares and intermittent pain, stinging, and itching. She described sitting in the bathtub for an hour with a water bottle and plastic chair, screaming while trying to remove bandages.