When Burns Kill. Review on Dealing With Burns

If you have ever heard your parents say, 'don't play around with matches' or'don't touch the fire because it will burn you', please take heed to these words.  If you are a parent or friends with children, please read my words and come away from this essay with a painful lesson learned.

Don't let this happen to you or your loved ones!

Back in 1987, after working a long night shift in the postal service, I arrived home, greeted at the door by my frantic mother.  She cried, 'There has been a fire at your brother's house!  Please, drive there and check it out for me!'

Although I was totally wiped out from a twelve hour shift of tossing packages and pushing trays of mail for the next day's delivery, I had no choice but to take the drive to see if my brother and his children were all right.

As I turned near my brother's neighborhood, I could tell that there was indeed a fire.  There were several fire trucks, ambulances and police cars.  So many, in fact, that I could not pull into the block!  After fighting my way through the crowd of curious onlookers, I demanded to know who was in charge and where was my brother.

A very concerned fire marshal asked who I was then proceeded to tell me that my brother, his wife and his three baby girls were severely burned in a horrific fire that consumed the entire second and third floors of the house!

'Oh, my good God!' were the only words that I could muster.  He then told us that my family had been rushed to three different hospital burn units and it was now up to me to gather my mother and brother and trek all over the city to see our loved ones.

When we arrived at the first hospital, we discovered, in total disbelief, that my brother had third degree burns, the most severe kind, over 87% of his body!  We were told that he was found lying semi-conscience on the roof top, having jumped through his bedroom window!  His prognosis was grim.

We then travelled to the second hospital, more than an hour away from th tragic fire scene to see my youngest niece.  By the time we arrived on the Burn Unit, the precious 20 month old baby girl was dead.  She succumbed to smoke inhalation and burns over 15% of her little body.

The reality of this tragedy was setting in in a most perverse way.  I became confused, angry, and pissed off at God!  'How could this be happening!?'  I cried.

On to the next hospital, we found my second and third nieces burned so badly that I didn't think I would ever get the horrible images out of my mind.  The three year old was totally blackened by the cunning and baffling roaring flames.  She died the next morning.

My four year old niece also died the next morning from smoke inhalation.  I wanted to die!  'God, take me!  Please don't take the babies away!' I wailed as I fought the truth as it was laid out before me.

Finally, when we arrived at the adult Burn Unit  hospital workers  were frantically caring for my sister-in-law.  She had the most severest of the injuries.  Her burns were all third degree, reaching deep into her body, over 97%!  It was a miracle that she was still alive, if only for a few hours.

The truest miracle is that she survived for a full two weeks, in agonizing pain and delirium.  Her ears had been burned off as well as her nose, fingers and toes!  It was a grotesque sight, something from the worst horror movie.  I didn't think that I could stand much more of this night.

My brother died 10 days after the fire.  He was never stabilized and I had to identify his charred remains in the morgue.  I do not wish this on my worst enemy, if I had enemies.

I share this story with you because fire Kills!  Burns can become huge sources of infection.  As in the case of my sister-in-law, who contracted a blood infection.  She had no living skin tissue left to cover her body.  It was like looking at a large opened wound.

The skin is the largest organ in the human body.  Most people do not know this.  The skin is a very important organ because it houses everything else!  If damaged, as in the case of burns, the other life systems are seriously compromised.

Please tell your children that burns can be very serious.  They cause great pain, swelling, blistering and in severe cases, death.

So, please, pass it on.

God bless!