Sandra Bartolo, 33, was watching the ground fireworks in Ghaxaq from a safe distance with her five-year-old daughter when she was hit by a flying piece of burning wood, the size of a football.
"I didn't see anything, but suddenly my hair was on fire. My instinct was to push my daughter away and I went running into the crowd in panic - bystanders were trying to extinguish the flames with their drinking water," she told The Sunday Times yesterday.
Stretched out on her bed with her right arm resting on a pillow, Ms Bartolo, who plans to sue for damages, was still trying to digest what happened in St Philip Square just before midnight last Saturday during the celebrations to mark Ghaxaq's feast of Santa Marija.
Shifting slightly, she tries to find a comfortable position so that her taut burnt skin will not be stretched. Moving her neck is painful, despite morphine, and the fan circulating hot air does little to cool her down.
Her hair is pulled back exposing a patch that is singed, a sizeable piece of gauze covers her right shoulder where the burning wood landed, and the skin around her neck looks like one angry blister.
Recounting what happened, the woman from Gudja said she had stayed to watch the colourful static fireworks display (giggifogu) with her daughter.
The feast, renowned for its award-winning pyrotechnics, had attracted a large crowd. Ms Bartolo tried to move closer for a better view, but was still more than 50 metres away from the circling wheels of fire.
She was wearing a spaghetti-strapped top, which meant her skin was exposed to the smouldering block of fire that had got dislodged from the Catherine wheel.
Her silver necklace with an 'S' charm was also blackened and got stuck to her skin.
Her daughter was unhurt but she was trampled in the panic before being rescued by her aunt.
"I was going mad and the burning sensation would just not go away," she said.
Her sister-in-law rushed her to Mater Dei Hospital's emergency section where she was treated immediately and kept overnight in case of swelling.
Ms Bartolo was discharged yesterday morning, but she has to return to hospital every day for the next 10 days so that her dressing is changed and her wound is examined. She believes more precautions and safety measures should be in place to protect the crowds whenever the ground fireworks are lit.
"It's true, a feast is nothing without fireworks, but there is no sense of professionalism and it's surprising more people don't get hurt - extremes are bad. There are no barriers and I believe something has to be done to protect the crowd from getting hurt," she insisted.
She hopes the incident will persuade the authorities to implement stricter regulations to avoid similar situations. In the meantime, she plans to steer clear of ground fireworks, but her scars will not be as easy to erase.