I suffered terrible burns as a child – then became a firefighter

When I was six years old in Hawthorne, Nevada, my whole body caught fire. My older brothers were playing with a bowl of kerosene and a lighter; when the bowl ignited and was kicked over, I was just inches away and soon submerged in flames. A neighbour tackled me and smothered the fire with a sleeping bag, and I was flown to a specialist centre in Las Vegas with third- and fourth-degree burns over 73% of my body.

Recovery stretched over a year and multiple hospitals. Bandage changes lasted five hours, my sides would crack when I bent because the skin was so thin, and I lost all grasp of reality as I tried to survive day by day. My family struggled but stayed close; my brothers were only 10 and 13.

After surgery burnout I was sent to a medically trained foster home for four years. My father was my rock until he died of brain cancer when I was 17, which left me again questioning why I’d been dealt such a horrendous hand. As a young adult I faced bullying and difficulty finding work.

United States, Hawthorne, Nevada

child burns, kerosene, lighter, third degree, fourth degree, burn recovery, bandage changes, foster care, bullying, firefighter