DETROIT – A 14-year-old girl is in the hospital following a freak accident and explosion at a Detroit hair salon.
Tanajah Johnson suffered severe injuries because of a hair spray can left too close to a curling iron heater.
Local 4 learned more about her injuries and what her hair stylist said about all of it.
“She wants to be a doctor,” said Tanajah Johnson’s mother, Latina Johnson. “She has her whole life ahead of her.”
Tanajah Brown wants to be a doctor, but right now, a team of doctors is working to help her inside Children’s Hospital.
The 14-year-old has lost sight in one eye. Her eye socket is shattered, and her nose is broken, including muscle and bone inside her mouth which are fractured.
The incident occurred Saturday (Jan. 7) afternoon as she was having her hair done.
A can of hairspray was left too close to a curling iron heater and exploded right into her face. Videos all over YouTube can show you how powerful a hairspray can explosion is.
Brown was rushed to the hospital.
“When I got to Sinai Grace, they had her in the trauma center, and I broke into tears,” said Latina Johnson.
The hairdresser responsible goes by the name Stylesbymacc. On her Instagram page, she’s taking responsibility for leaving the hairspray near the heater, apologizing to the teen and her family.
The 14-year-old saw the stylist showing off her work on Instagram and booked an appointment where her page reads:
“Please be advised that I am an unlicensed hairstylist, attending cosmetology school in order to obtain my license.”
“She tells me, ‘I don’t have insurance, and I don’t own a shop as I’m leasing the shop,” Latina Johnson said. “So, I say, ‘Well, my baby is here in the hospital. What are we going to do?’ And that was it.”
Latina Johnson said holding people and the salon owner responsible for what happened to her daughter will come later as she is focused on her daughter’s recovery.
“She’s in good spirits,” Latina Johnson said. “She just keeps saying, ‘Mommy, will I be able to see again?’ I’m just comforting her and letting her know that ‘You’re going to be OK,’ and we’re going to get through this.”
Local 4 reached out to the hairdresser, and she did not respond.