Belgian Tourist Visits Death Valley And All He Got Was A Lost Flip-Flop And All The Skin Melted Off His Foot

I don't know if you heard, but Monday was the hottest day on Earth in recorded history, which really isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, but it was still very hot.

How hot was it?

It was so hot that we wound up with a story that reads like it could have been a Johnny Carson monologue joke:

Johnny: "It was very hot today, wasn't it, Ed?"

Ed: You are correct sir. 

Johnny: Yes; it was so hot in Death Valley this week that a Belgian tourist lost a flop-flop and melted the skin off his foot.

*Millions at home laugh*

Johnny: Really good show tonight; Tom and Dick Smothers are here. Tallulah Bankhead will join us…

But that's a real thing that happened according to a National Parks Service press release.

Visitors walk out onto the salt flats at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park earlier this month. Sticking to the shade was probably a smart call. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Lost Flip-Flop Ends in Disaster At Death Valley

According to the report, the unnamed 42-year-old from Belgium was flip-flopping across the dunes at one of the hottest places on the planet on non-record-setting days, when he blew a tire, so to speak, and lost a flip-flop.

Now, we all make mistakes, but I think it's important to remind everyone that flip-flops are not designed for cross-country wear. They're designed to get you from the lounge chair to the pool and back or keep you from getting athlete's foot in a gym shower.

This guy got a reminder the hard way, and upon sticking a bare foot on the blazing sand — which is reported to have been quite a bit hotter than the ambient temperature of 123° — he suffered "full-thickness burns."

"The skin was melted off his foot," said Death Valley National Park Service Ranger Gia Ponce said, per The Los Angeles Times. "The ground can be much hotter — 170, 180 [degrees]. Sometimes up into the 200 range."

Well, at least there wouldn't be any issues with medical crews getting to his aid, right?

RIGHT?!

Well, if you know a little about how gases react to heat, the high temperatures made it impossible for the medical helicopter to reach the parking lot where family and other park visitors carried the man after the incident.

So, an ambulance arrived and took him to a place in the park with a higher elevation and a crisp, cool 109° temperature, where a helicopter was able to reach him.

What a nightmare. I can't even imagine what that's like, nor would I want to even if I could.

Here's to hoping this unnamed Belgian tourist is on the mend.