Miracle musician Jimmy Brown was back with his beloved dog Bessie yesterday after their incredible escape from a massive gas explosion.
The 78-year-old walked relatively unscathed from the centre of the blast, which demolished his 17th-century cottage in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, last week.
Bessie also had a miraculous escape - she was left just slightly singed despite being in the middle of the explosion with Mr Brown.
The classical musician spoke emotionally about surviving the blast, and said he had been very touched by all the good wishes from around the world.
But while Mr Brown said he felt uneasy about becoming a "celebrity" from a "negative event", it seemed Bessie is a natural in front of the cameras.
It emerged yesterday that it was not Bessie's first brush with death - she was a day from being put down at a Welsh re-homing centre when she was taken in by an animal sanctuary near Malmesbury, and then taken three years ago by Mr Brown.
And Mr Brown also said the four-year-old corgi-cross - and not a cup of tea - was the initial cause of the blast, which was compared to a large bomb after it sent a shockwave that damaged homes up to a mile away in the Cotswold town.
"We got in after a day out and I always pour boiling water over her dog pellets of food, and that was why I switched the kettle on," said Mr Brown, who was discharged from hospital on Monday evening.
"I pressed the switch and Bob's your uncle - all hell was let loose around me. I remember there was a big noise and a flash and lots of this whooshing sound. I suddenly realised I wasn't on my feet anymore and I knew instinctively what it was - a gas explosion.
"I was at an angle of 45 degrees face forward and there was the sound of things falling. I knew it was important I should get out so I wriggled out and stood up and fire was just starting around me but the flames were only small at that stage.
"As I clambered out, someone said: 'There he is!', and I came out rather bullishly with my thumbs up. Bessie must have followed me out."
Mr Brown was treated for minor burns to his hands and head, while Bessie had just two burns.
Mr Brown said: "I was very lucky in many ways. Firstly, I wasn't hit on the head by anything, wasn't in the middle of a fireball and there wasn't a lot of smoke. When I came out, my neighbour was there to look after me in a shop across the road and I said I was sorry for damaging her house.
"The amount of goodwill and support has been quite overwhelming. I had handmade 'get well' cards from all the children at Junior Church, which was wonderful," he added.
Mr Brown intends to rent a house just yards from the scene of the blast while his home is rebuilt, and said he didn't get upset when he saw his wrecked home for the first time on Monday evening.
"I couldn't conjure up any emotion really, I've always been very adaptable about situations and I can make good out of a bad job."
But one thing was lost - his annual accounts. He said: "I had to phone up my accountant and break the news to him that I had been doing my accounts on the kitchen table the day before and it was all still out. So every cheque stub, receipt and bill was blown all across the town - people tell me they are finding charred bits a long way away."
The cause of the blast is still being investigated, with the focus on gas mains replacement work that had been carried out that morning outside Mr Brown's home.
