A Bolton mum is said to have been left “traumatised” after a microwave poaching hack backfired and she’s vowed never to eat an egg again.
25-year-old Chantelle Conway was left with horrific facial burns after her attempt to poach an egg in the microwave went wrong and left screaming in agony.
Using the same tried-and-tested method she’s “always” done to poach eggs, Chantelle boiled the kettle and filled a cup before cracking a raw egg into the water and putting it in the microwave for ten seconds – but when she then put a cold spoon into the boiling water to remove the poached egg, the reaction sent the piping hot water shooting straight into her face as she stood over the cup.
Chantelle claims that she has been poaching eggs in the microwave for the last two years before it went wrong earlier this month.
She was so rocked by the incident that she was convinced she’d “burnt her face off”.
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“I’ve always done poached eggs that way because it was just a quicker and easier way of doing them,” said Chantelle, from Farnworth in Bolton.
“When I took it out of the microwave, I put a metal spoon in to turn the egg and check if it was cooked but as soon as the spoon touched the water it shot out.
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“It wasn’t the egg that blew up [as] that landed on my kitchen side, it was the water that went everywhere – all over my face and neck and I’m sure it even hit the ceiling because there’s a mark above where I was standing.
“It was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life.”
Chantelle claims that she has been poaching eggs in the microwave for the last two years / Credit: Flickr
Describing the pain as feeling like “someone had a blowtorch on my face constantly”, Chantelle said she was “really lucky” that she managed to shut her eyes in time and wasn’t blinded, but admits that here eyelids were “badly burnt”.
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Chantelle was at home with her 18-month-old daughter and was on FaceTime with her cousin Stephanie at the time of the horrific accident, who listened in horror to Chantelle’s screams as the water scalded her face.
Relaying the traumatic incident, Stephanie said: “We FaceTime every day and she puts the phone on the tea and sugar pots while she makes a brew [but] all of a sudden I saw lots of stuff flying up in the air and she was screaming and couldn’t even talk to tell me what had happened so I thought the kettle had blown up in her face.
“I was in Manchester at the time [so I was] too far away to nip round.
“I just felt helpless and was panicking trying to call someone nearby to go help her.”
“I’ll never have an egg again because I’m so traumatised.” / Credit: Kennedy News & Media
After her partner Mark came home to take her to A&E at Royal Bolton Hospital, Chantelle revealed that hospital staff said her quick reaction of continuously pouring cold water over her face meant she was very lucky to have not sustained third-degree burns.
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Following the life-changing incident, Chantelle has shared photos of her excruciating facial burns to warn others against the ‘hack’ – which she has seen people doing on TikTok – and also shared her burn recovery experience to raise awareness and warn others on the social media platform.
“I do take full responsibility for what happened,” Chantelle admits.
“It was silly of me to do it and I just want more people to know what can happen so it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“I’ll never have an egg again because I’m so traumatised.”
Featured Image – Kennedy News and Media
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The cheapest Christmas Markets in the world for mulled wine have been revealed
Daisy Jackson
The most affordable Christmas Markets for drinking mulled wine have been revealed – and Manchester is nowhere in sight.
With Christmas markets across Europe preparing to welcome millions of visitors, festive fans looking to enjoy a warming cup of glühwein without breaking the bank might want to take note of the latest findings.
Festive experts at Christmas Tree World have analysed mulled wine prices at Christmas markets around the world to discover where visitors can enjoy the seasonal favourite for less.
Topping the rankings is Brussels’ Winter Wonders, where mulled wine is available for as little as £2.14 – about a third of the price of a mulled wine at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
Cologne Cathedral Christmas Markets and Strasbourg’s Christkindelsmärik share second place, with starting prices of just £2.56.
Other European favourites also feature prominently in the rankings. Budapest’s Christmas Market at the Basilica takes fourth place, with mulled wine costing £3.19, while Prague’s Old Town Square Christmas Market comes in sixth at £3.55.
Germany makes another strong appearance, with Dresden’s Striezelmarkt and Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt (which handily just launched new direct flights from Manchester) both offering mulled wine for £3.85.
Meanwhile, Vienna’s Christmas World rounds off the European entries in ninth place, with prices starting at £4.28.
For those planning a festive adventure further afield, Tokyo’s Christmas Market also makes the top five, with mulled wine costing £3.22.
However, not every destination offers such a bargain. Across the Atlantic, New York City’s Winter Village takes the title of the most expensive market in the study, with mulled wine costing a rather less festive £11.74. Chicago’s Christkindlmarket isn’t far behind, charging £8.80.
Manchester Christmas Markets start on Friday 6 November – we’ll see how our prices stack up then.
Sir Ian McKellen pays emotional tribute to long-time friend and fellow northern actor Sir Patrick Stewart
Emily Sergeant
Sir Ian McKellen has paid an emotional tribute to his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, following his death.
Sir Patrick Stewart – who was born and bred in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and is best-known for his theatre work alongside an illustrious 60-year screen career, taking on prominent roles in franchises such as Star Trek and X-Men – sadly passed away at the age of 86, with his death being announced publicly yesterday evening (29 October).
And now, his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Ian McKellen, has paid tribute.
Sir Patrick and Sir Ian shared the stage together countless times over their decades-long careers, but also famously starred alongside each other in the X-Men franchise, and subsequent Marvel movies, as Charles Xavier/Professor X and Magneto.
The tribute, shared across Sir Ian’s social media platforms, reads: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions.
“My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”
“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did, for not just his devoted Trekkies, but film and theatre audiences who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin.
“But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”
Emily Sergeant -
13th July 2021 
