Articles Posted in Survivors Stories

From the book I Will Not Be Broken by Jerry white.

A burn survivor who was a passenger in a car when it was rear-ended woke up in the burn unit without knowing that she was burned, she doesn’t remember the treatment given to her in the emergency room or at the site of accident. Waking up in the burn center and being told that she was burned gave her the impression that she was burned in a war, she asked “Oh, there was a war”. Amputation of part of her right hand is one of the first things she recalls after the passage of two to three weeks of being in the burn center. Her memory of what happened in the first few weeks was vague. On the first day in the burn unit, she remembers that she kept asking for her best friend who came and was beside her although that she couldn’t see because her eyes were swollen as a result of the burn. She remembers later on how she was in pain and how it was painful especially after the removal of the bandages. She remembers the nurse feeding her and brushing her teeth as she couldn’t do anything with her hands. Morphine injection was given to her by the nurse to be followed within 20 minutes by removing the bandages. Despite Morphine injection, the pain persisted. Taking the bandages off in the morning, putting a sheet around her that could not touch her burned head as it causes pain and then wheeling her to the hydro room, returning to the burn unit and putting the bandages again, all caused her pain that she doesn’t want to remember. During her hospitalization, she had visitors that provided her with support during this critical period, as she says “I would have died without them”. She firmly believes that she would never have been able to go through this experience without the help and support of her friends and visitors as her family was abroad.

She had to wear a face mask as a result of her facial burns, she wore it and it became routine over time. When the time came to permanently remove the mask, she was afraid that people would see her scars and reject her. With time she was able return back to the community and find positive meaning in her injury that allowed her to continue living and thriving.

From the book entitled “Severe Burns” by Andrew M. Munster, M.D. and the staff of Baltimore Regional Burn Center.

According to survivor X, while he was at work, an accident happened that changed the course of his life; he was electrocuted and burned over 45 percent of his body. “Everybody deals with things in their own way, I was eventually able to deal with my accident, but the stages and phases a burn patient goes through in the beginning are sketchy, because the mind has a way of blocking out bad things”.

He was taken to a hospital first then transferred to a burn center. In the burn center, when he first woke up, he could remember everything that happened for the first few days, but as the days passed he started forgetting the details of the accident. His head was hurting badly as if something very heavy had been dropped on his head. He finally started to remember that he was in the hospital and why he was there although he didn’t want to be there.

From the book I Will Not Be Broken by Jerry white.

Survivor X lost both of her parents when she was 23 in a flying accident. She suffered guilt feelings and couldn’t continue because of her depression. She decided to commit suicide by using a grenade but the grenade exploded while she was trying to slam it against her body. She didn’t die but both of her hands were blown off. While she was recovering, she was thinking of when she could try suicide again. One day an amputee visited her; the visitor told her that despite losing her hands; she can still achieve her dream. She was skeptical of what the visitor had told her but the visitor challenged her by asking her to tell him what her dream was. She wanted to be a photographer. The visitor helped her in researching the options that she has leading her to enroll in a photography class. With the help of friends, she was able to buy some photo equipments, and was off the antidepressants. She is pursuing her dream of becoming a professional photographer. She was able to achieve her dream because she let go of the past. The lesson learned: live the future and get moving.

From the book I Will Not Be Broken by Jerry white.

Survivor x lost his right leg while stepping on a landmine. This trauma made him wonder how he was going to work and feed his wife and child. He had to move with his parents as his family had no home. As a result of the accident, he avoided his family, went into severe depression and drank heavily. One day this survivor met another amputee who told him that he has to return back to his normal life taking responsibility and support his family. For the survivor this was overwhelming but his friend insisted that he should do it, the survivor was encouraged and found the support and the willingness with other amputees. It took over a year, but step by step attending meetings and joining survivor support groups, the results were encouraging. With his determination and planning he started a business by building a greenhouse with a thriving tomato business and because of his honesty and hard work, his produce was sold quickly as people lined up to buy them.

He says “Thanks to the support from my community, my family has a strong husband and father again, and with my new business, our future is no longer uncertain”.

From the book I Will Not Be Broken by Jerry White.

Survivor X was seventeen years old, on his way to work in a civil war country when he stepped on a mine leading him to the loss of both of his legs. He thought it was a dream. At the time of the explosion he tried to kill himself with an explosive lying on the ground near him but it didn’t explode. He was desperate to die as he took a gun from one of the soldiers who arrived after the explosion and begged him to kill him. Recovery was very difficult, both physically and mentally. He was able to survive with the support of his family. Of great import to him, was meeting other disabled persons. He saw how they lived their lives. It made him really happy to see people in wheelchairs playing sports in the hospital.

Although it was a long journey he was very happy and excited about many aspects of his life. He has a wife, children, a family, parents and siblings and a lot of friends.