A Sobbering Lesson

Yesterday I saw a patient of mine who had quite a story to tell, and I want to share her story with her permission as we both feel people need to become aware of a very real danger.

I have known this lady and her daughter for years, and was treating her for injuries sustained in a car accident this spring. She had been through a lot physically and was finally starting to make some progress. Her husband had also been through a long rehab process for another injury and had finally recovered. They had just sold their house after a long drawn out drama and were packing to move. Things were looking up.

In June my receptionist received a phone call from a family member that she had been burned very badly in a house fire and was in the burn unit in Vancouver General Hospital. They were cancelling all her appointments, obviously. Yesterday she came in with an update of what happened.

Her husband plays ball, and when they got to the ball field, there was some fresh graffiti on the benches. They wiped the paint with their hands, it appeared dry, so they sat down to play. After a whole game of sitting on the paint, his sweat and body heat melted some of the paint into his ball pants. He came home and my patient started trying to clean his pants. She sprayed some spray-and-wash on them, scrubbed them, and left them to soak. She washed her hands, but was not aware that some residue from the paint and cleaning supplies had splashed onto her arms.

She then went into another room, sat down in a chair, wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, and leaned over to light some candles. As soon as she lit the lighter, her arms bust onto flame. The blanket quickly started burning and she got to the ground as quickly as she could (still healing from previous injuries) and tried to roll. She thought she got the fire out, not realizing the blanket was now burning on the inside. The house quickly caught fire and as she was yelling for her daughter and husband to get out, she tried to get to the fire extinguisher. It would not come off the wall, and she ended up breaking her nose as it finally pulled free. By then it was too late and they all barely made it out alive. Outside, she kept saying, "I'm burning, I'm burning." her husband told her she wasn't, until she tried to remove the blanket and it was burned into her charred torso, smoldering from the inside.

She suffered 3rd degree burns to 2/3 of her body (thankfully not her face, hands or feet). She spent 2 months in the hospital, 52 days in isolation as she got many infections. She had multiple grafting surgeries and may have more. They home that they had just sold is gone, with all of their possessions. But they all have their lives, and I am amazed at her will to keep on fighting. She came in just to make sure she was doing all she could for stretches to her scars and strengthening exercises. STRENGTHENING EXERCISES 2 months after nearly being killed. She is amazing.

She is a trooper and desperately wants all those young graffiti artists out there who nonchalantly spray surfaces like playground equipment and park benches to realize that they could be endangering many lives by doing so. She wants all those who clean and work with flammable products to be aware that the little flammable symbol on the bottle is there for a reason. I want to share her story as well, as what happened to her could happen to anyone. I would have never thought a fire could happen so easily. Please share this with anyone who may benefit.