SLOWLY opening her eyes, Annemarie Roberts-Lorenzini let out a piercing scream as excruciating pain took hold of her entire body.
Alone in a strange, dark room, she looked down and saw her entire body mummified in bandages, from her toes up to her chin.
Eventually nurses rushed to her side, and relayed the horrific ordeal she’d faced hours earlier – which she had no recollection of whatsoever.
Mum-of-one Annemarie, 50, from Fremont, , had accidentally melted her body after climbing in into a scalding hot bath that she’d run while she was sleepwalking.
She was going through the menopause, suffering from hot and cold flushes, and had just started taking a new anti-anxiety medication – a combination that would prove near-fatal.
Having popped a tablet before going to sleep on that fateful night in May last year, hours later Annemarie became freezing from a .
Whilst ‘zoned out’ from the higher dosage pill, she climbed out of bed and ran herself a nearly fatal, boiling bath and, still fast asleep, clambered in.
As her body burned she threw herself out moments before her husband Luca Roberts-Lorenzini found his wife naked, unconscious and with her skin melting off on the bathroom floor.
He helped save her life, and when she next woke up she was in a , where doctors revealed she’d scorched nearly half her body.
Brave Annemarie survived against all the odds, and now she’s speaking out to raise awareness for other burn survivors.
She tells The Sun: “Waking up in hospital I had to rack my brain until I had flashbacks of what happened in the bath.
“It was like a hazy dream – one where my life was flipped upside down.
“Now I suffer from and , but I know I’m lucky to be alive. I’ll get better, I just have to take each day as it comes.”;
Annemarie has been married to tyre fitter Luca, 55, for over 30 years and the couple share a daughter – 20-year-old Francesca.
She had overcome a great deal of hardship in her life, including a battle with in her thirties.
Annemarie, who’s now unable to work after her accident, recalls: “I’d been diagnosed with acute panic disorder, agoraphobia and depression when I was 17.
“I was on a lot of meds, but my panic attacks were horrendous. It was three times a week and I couldn’t control them.
Now I suffer from PTSD and panic attacks, but I know I’m lucky to be alive. I’ll get better, I just have to take each day as it comes
Annemarie Roberts-Lorenzini
“Then into my thirties, Luca and I lost both our and home. I ended up suffering with alcoholism.
“After what was the , I finally got sober when I was 40.”;
In 2016, aged 41, the inspirational mum received her ‘one year’ chip for being sober at , and, keen to dedicate her life to helping others, she became an outreach coordinator at an addiction company.
Over the years, she continued taking medication to keep her anxiety “at bay”; – but aged 47, she hit the .
Annemarie says: “For the next three years I experienced hot night sweats. Then the next moment, I’d be freezing cold, unable to get myself warm.”;
Worst nightmare
Annemarie was approaching 50 in spring last year when she was put on a new anti-anxiety medication.
One evening she returned home from work to an empty house – Luca was out and their daughter was away at university.
She says: “I was exhausted from work, and gulped down my new pill in bed. It was a new brand and a higher dose.
“I drifted off to sleep.Then the next thing I remember, I opened my eyes and I was in a dark room.
“It was a hospital room. I looked down and saw my body was wrapped up in bandages, from my toes up to my neck and arms. Like a mummy.
I looked down and saw my body was wrapped up in bandages, from my toes up to my neck and arms. Like a mummy
Annemarie Roberts-Lorenzini
“I began screaming asking where I was and what was going on.”;
Nurses rushed in and informed Annemarie that she had severe third degree burns to 30 per cent of her body – and that Luca had saved her life after finding her unconscious on the floor next to the bath.
“Sobbing, I didn’t remember,”; she says. “I was confused and woozy on the meds.
“Later that night Luca appeared by my bed and begged me to tell him if I was trying to hurt myself.
“My family thought I’d tried to kill myself.
“I said no! I was soon out of it again. When I came to again, I saw Francesca who’d travelled to see me from uni.”;
As she was undergoing so many surgeries, Annemarie was in and out of consciousness every day.
After a while she began experiencing small flashbacks, and little by little she and her family were able to piece together what had happened.
Annemarie says: “I realised that whilst I was ‘zoned out’ from the new, higher dosage tablet, I practically slept-walked to the bathroom.
Luca appeared by my bed and begged me to tell him if I was trying to hurt myself. My family thought I’d tried to kill myself
Annemarie Roberts-Lorenzini
“I drew myself a bath to warm up. But instead, I unknowingly poured hot, boiling water into the bath, and slid into scalding water.
“As my body burned, I threw myself out. I’d submerged my feet, legs, hands, arms and back into the water.
“Luca found me passed out on the bathroom floor, naked and my skin melting off everywhere. I’d been moments away from death.
“In tears I realised Luca had saved me. ButI didn’t know if I could survive still. The pain I felt was hell on earth.”;
Unrecognisable
Annemarie underwent , with skin grafts taken from her lower legs and thighs.
But her grafts kept getting infected and she claims her muscles “vanished”; and her legs and hands were “burnt to the bones”;.
At one point a doctor even warned her family that they may have to amputate her legs.
She says: “I’d always thought my sobriety was the biggest battle I’d fight. But this was worse. I was convinced I was going to die.
“But after a month, once the surgeries finished and my infections cleared, things were looking up.
I’d always thought my sobriety was the biggest battle I’d fight. But this was worse. I was convinced I was going to die
Annemarie Roberts-Lorenzini
“I began rehab, slowly learning to walk again. When I first stood up, I felt like I’d won the
“It was the first time I realised I’d be okay. I had a life to live and a family.
“Luca was amazing and was there by my side every day.
“But one day, I saw my body underneath the bandages for the first time. My skin was raw, red, bloody and open.
“My donor sites made me look like a patchwork quilt. I’d loved dressing up in boho chic, and having long red hair.
“But now my hair had been shaved off and I didn’t recognise myself. I cried as it felt like a death. But I stayed strong.”;
Proud
Despite doctors estimating it would be a year before Annemarie walked again, she was determined and re-learned within just two-and-a-half months, on her feet by July 2024.
By September, after four months in hospital, she was finally able to go home.
Annemarie says: “I was immensely proud of what I’d achieved. But my world had been flipped upside down.
“Luca became my carer. Every day he dressed and showered me. He picked my clothes, pushed me into my compression garments, stretched my arms, legs and fingers.
“He gave me my medication and took me to my appointments. There were moments where I was devastated, but he made me laugh.
“I missed my old self and my old life. I felt embarrassed of my scars on my legs too.
I missed my old self and my old life. I felt embarrassed of my scars on my legs too
Annemarie Roberts-Lorenzini
“I also had no income as I was unable to work. As well as rising living costs for housekeeping and carers, I owed my parents money and the medical bills came flooding in.
“So my family made a GoFundMe fundraiser, and it was amazing how many people donated.”;
Now Annemarie’s trying to adapt to her new life as a burn survivor and says while she still has bad days, she’s doing well.
“I’m still in and out of surgery a lot. I still suffer with anxiety and now, PTSD, having,”; she says.
“But I’ve since found online community of other burn survivors and that’s given me so much peace and support.
“I have three birthdays now. My birth birthday, my sobriety birthday and now my ‘burniversary’.”;
