The accident that left Jay Leno with third-degree burns didn’t douse his sense of humor.
The comedian joked he has “a brand-new face” after being badly injured in a gasoline fire last month, saying, “It’s better than what was there before.”
Leno, 72, reflected on the incident in a Wall Street Journal essay published Sunday, writing that he refuses to stress out over it despite sustaining “deep” burns.
“Really, it was an accident, that’s all,” he explained. “Anybody who works with their hands on a regular basis is going to have an accident at some point. If you play football, you get a concussion or a broken leg. Anything you do, there’s a risk factor.
“You have to joke about it,” the former “Tonight Show” host added. “There’s nothing worse than whiny celebrities. If you joke about it, people laugh along with you.”
Leno was tinkering with one of his vehicles, a 1907 White Steam car, on Nov. 12 when a fuel leak caused his hands and face to be doused with gas, which subsequently ignited and set him ablaze.
The “Jay Leno’s Garage” star was rushed to a burn center and underwent several forms of treatment, including two grafting procedures to remove unhealthy tissue and promote healing and several hyperbaric chamber sessions in an effort to “decrease swelling” and “increase blood flow with good oxygenation.”
Leno has since returned to work.
He got back on the comedy stage shortly after a 10-day hospital stay, appearing before a sold-out crowd at Comedy Magic Club in California’s Hermosa Beach.
The comic was also spotted going back to the same garage where he sustained the burns.
As of June of this year, Leno’s impressive car collection boasted over 180 vehicles, including exotic cars, hypercars and museum-grade artifacts.