Beauty queen who suffered 85% burns in house fire poses naked for a powerful portrait

20 years ago, a former beauty queen from Cairns, Queensland, in Australia, who survived from a devastating house fire, suffered 85 per cent burns has posed naked for a powerful world-acclaimed portrait to make a point about what’s really important in life.

Photo credits: Brian Cassey

Carol Mayer was just 33 when she sustained massive burn injuries to over 85 percent of her body in a house fire in February 2000. To date, carol has no recollection of how the blaze began. All Mayor knows is she and her 18-month-old son, Zac, managed to escape the house.

Photo credits: Brian Cassey

Given a 50:50 chance of survival, Mayor spent 8 weeks in a coma in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital intensive care unit followed by 9 months of painful recovery in the burns unit.

53-year-old, Carol Mayer posed naked for a powerful portrait which was captured by London-native Brian Cassey, an award-winning photographer. The portrait - named “The Skin I'm In” - has been shortlisted for the Portrait of Humanity 2020 award, organised by the British Journal of Photography.

In September, 100 winners out of the 200 preselected will be displayed internationally on digital displays, plus, for the first time, a screen launched 111,000ft above Earth.

Photo credits: Brian Cassey

Today, Carol gets satisfaction from sharing her story and speaks out about life after adversity, and inspiring women all over the world by showcasing her strength and wisdom of life. Carol felt that putting herself out there in world would be for a good cause, for people to realise; number one, your life can be gone in a heartbeat, number two, you need a fighting spirit, and number three, it's about accepting, moving forward and holding your head up high. She wanted to show people that you don't have to be afraid to show the true human that you really are.