Newlywed influencer shares 'horror' moment she could have died when sauna she was going to get in exploded
A newlywed influencer has spoken out about a scary incident in which she could have been killed.
Dominique Elissa, aged 30, took to her TikTok to share a video in which she explained how she narrowly escaped death after a shocking accident.
Speaking in a “Get Ready With Me” video as she put her make-up on, the Australian star said she was staying at a house around 30 minutes from Byron Bay as she was going to host a wellness retreat the following day. But, as she was relaxing, things took a turn.
There was a sauna on the grounds of the property, that she said she was “minutes” away from stepping into - but then it exploded.
The social media star said: “I didn't think i was going to talk about this, but I had the most crazy, traumatising near death experience the other night. I was away, 30 minutes out of Byron. . . I had put the sauna on to have a sauna - I was in it the night before.”
Dominique, who got married to husband Tom Bull just three months ago, went on to explain that she had turned the sauna on to heat up before going inside to cook her dinner as she planned to take a soak after she ate.
“I finish eating dinner and I'm about to put my swimmers on to go in the sauna, and I hear boom,” she went on. “I look up and the entire sauna exploded.” Dominique added that the explosion rose “10 to 15 metres” into the air, and caused a power outage in her remote accommodation.
“My phone was about to die and I had no reception,” she said. “I am screaming ‘help! Somebody help me!’ It was a horror movie.”
Dominique was eventually able to get through to emergency services, who attended. She added: “The whole sauna burnt to the ground,' she said. 'It was the most horrific thing to experience because I was a few minutes from going into that sauna. I'm so grateful to be alive, so grateful to be here.”
Many of Dominique’s 73,000 TikTok followers posted kind messages of support. Some said they believed that Dominique's late mum, Odile Faludi, who died just days after her wedding in March after battling stage four cancer, was watching over her.
“Omg Dom !! Life is so precious, your mum was there watching over you,” one follower commented, echoing the thoughts of many.
Dominique also thought her mum was taking care of her. In the caption, she wrote: “Life is so fragile, mum was definitely making sure I didn’t get in that sauna.” She also described the incident as “the scariest moment of [her] entire life” in a further caption overlaid on top of the video.
Dominique said ‘I do’ to husband Tom Bull on Friday March 7. Their wedding day was just two weeks after they got engaged so that Odile could walk her daughter down the aisle.
Dominique and Tom celebrated their nuptials with their families, who met for the first time on the big day. She also shared images and videoes of the bittersweet ceremony with her followers. Odile died just over a week later.