Formosa explosion haunts man AP, Springfield State Journal Register, IL
Bradshaw was working on the night of April 23 when a vinyl chloride cloud rolled through the Illiopolis plant about 25 miles east of Springfield. Vinyl chloride was once used as an anesthetic and it was all Bradshaw could do to stagger on rubbery legs to a nearby laboratory, where other workers could help him.
He went back out when somebody burst in with news that there was a problem in the plant.
An explosion turned the plant into an inferno and cooked Bradshaw's skin. His hair, tied in a ponytail, didn't burn as much as it melted, fusing to his head. He tore off his burning clothes, revealing blistering skin.