Burns survivor Dana Vulin recalls the night she set alight

An Australian burns survivor who was doused in methylated spirit and set alight by a jealous woman has vividly recalled the horror of the attack in a new book.

Dana Vulin, 31, from Perth, has undergone more than 200 surgical procedures since she was set on fire in February 2012 by Natalie Dimitrovska – who was jealous Dana had spoken to her estranged husband during a party. 

Dana was at home the night Dimitrovska visited her, accompanied by a friend, Daniel Stone.

Dimitrovska demanded to know where her husband was – wrongly thinking Dana and he were romantically linked.

Dana has vividly recalled the horror of the attack in a new book – Dana Vulin – Worth Fighting For (pictured)

Dimitrovska then grabbed a bottle of methylated spirit, removing the cap and throwing the liquid on her.  

‘Waving her hand in a zigzagging motion, she doused me with the chemical, hitting my face, arms, chest, everything from the waist up,’ Dana recalled in her new book Worth Fighting For.

‘The methylated spirits caught the naked flame in my hand and suddenly the whole world was on fire.

‘The methylated spirits caught the naked flame in my hand and suddenly the whole world was on fire,’ Dana said of the moment she was set alight

Dana had to wear a compression mask on her face for two-and-a-half years to recover  

‘The flames were everywhere: my shoulders, my naked stomach — only my boobs were protected by my tiny boob tube.

‘The flames spread to my head, my hair went up in seconds, and when I reached up to wipe the burning chemicals off my face, my hands were already on fire.’

Dana said her instinct was to drop and roll – but by doing so spread the fire further around her body.

The Perth native has undergone more than 200 procedures after she was burned in a horrific attack by Natalie Dimitrovska, who is serving a 17-year jail sentence

‘The flames spread to my head, my hair went up in seconds, and when I reached up to wipe the burning chemicals off my face, my hands were already on fire,’ Dana recalled

When Dana (far right) finally woke from a coma in hospital, her sister Svetlana (far left) was playing the Whitney Houston song Step by Step

‘The pain was excruciating, but through my screaming I could hear Natalie and Daniel making their escape through the sliding door,’ Dana wrote in her book.

‘They were laughing at me while I burnt alive.

‘When I stood up the flames were getting worse, and I could barely think through the pain. 

‘Panicked, I turned to the sink, trying to put the flames out by pouring a bucket of water over myself.’

While Dana desperately tried to put out the flames by throwing a bucket of water over herself, her attacker fled while laughing

She was badly injured in the horrific attack – suffering third-degree burns to two thirds of her body

‘As I fumbled with the front door I could feel the skin falling from my fingers,’ she wrote in her new book

Dana said she kept screaming for help – desperate for anyone to hear – while across the room her beloved dog, Killer, was whining in terror. 

‘I knew that I needed to get help. I was as good as dead without it. 

‘As I fumbled with the front door I could feel the skin falling from my fingers,’ she wrote.

‘I managed to get the door open and crossed the hallway to the unit next to mine, kicking at the door while yelling for help. 

‘Long moments passed. There was no answer.

Previously, Dana has described herself as a ‘modern day Frankenstein’ and said she is a ‘walking advertisment for what modern medicine can do’

Dana credits her confidence for helping her get through even the darkest of times 

‘Even after the fire was finally extinguished the chemicals continued burning me and it was so intense.

‘I screamed so loud and for so long that when someone finally came, he wasn’t even my neighbour.

‘The guy who turned up was working out in the gym of an apartment building next to mine, and he’d heard my screams and come running. 

Dana said her instinct was to drop and roll after being set alight – but by doing so spread the flames further around her body

‘By the time he got to me the flames had gone out. There was little left for them to burn. 

‘I lay dying on the floor. I opened my eyes to find a man in gym gear squatting next to me.’

Dana credits that man, Denis Ericson, who lived in another building, for saving her life.

He stayed with her until an ambulance arrived to take her to hospital – where she stayed in a coma for two days.

‘I lay dying on the floor. I opened my eyes to find a man in gym gear squatting next to me,’ Dana said. She credits that man for saving her life.

She famously removed the compression mask she’d been wearing for two and a half years on Channel Seven’s Sunday Night

Dana, who was once told she would never be able to hold a pen again, has even returned to normal mobility and range 

‘I came back from death’s door slowly,’ Dana recalled. ‘While I slept, I dreamt. Snatches of memory, fantasy, nightmare.

‘These dreams faded in and out, but Svetlana [Dana’s sister] was in some of them.

‘Sometimes it was just the impression of her, a feeling, maybe her voice or a snatch of song that reached me in the coma.

She would spend a year-and-a-half in the hospital and would have the skin on her chest completely replaced three times

‘She would sing to me while I was in the coma – pop tunes, songs from our childhood.

‘Songs we used to sing together and dumb little tunes from our favourite TV shows or Disney movies.

‘She was singing the Whitney Houston song ‘Step by Step’, which we’d loved and sang together, growing up, when I finally woke up.’

‘I came back from death’s door slowly,’ Dana recalled. ‘While I slept, I dreamt. Snatches of memory, fantasy, nightmare’ 

‘No one thought it was physically possible [to recover so much],’ Dana told Daily Mail Australia 

The words of that song would prove to be a mantra by which Dana has since lived – taking her long and arduous recovery day by day.

While her attacker, Natalie Dimitrovska, was later jailed for 17 years, Dana has undergone countless medical procedures that changed the course of her life irrevocably.  

She had suffered third-degree burns to two thirds of her body and for two and a half years, Dana had to wear a compression mask on her face – in a bid to help her horrific burns heal.

She spent a year-and-a-half in the hospital and would have the skin on her chest completely replaced three times.

She famously removed the compression mask to reveal her changed face on Channel Seven’s Sunday Night.

‘No one thought it was physically possible [to recover so much],’ Dana told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘It’s ironic I woke up to that Whitney Houston song,’ she added. ‘Because my journey has been bit by bit and step by step’

Previously, Dana has described herself as a ‘modern day Frankenstein’ and said she is a ‘walking advertisment for what modern medicine can do’.

‘I feel like I’ve won gold at the Olympics,’ she told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘It’s taken a lot of hard work to get here – it’s been a five-and-a-half-year journey.

‘It’s ironic I woke up to that Whitney Houston song,’ she added. ‘Because my journey has been bit by bit and step by step.’ 

Dana Vulin’s book Worth Fighting For, published by Penguin, is out on 28 August. For more information visit here.