My Story

This is me, I was burned at the age of two by a grease fire. My mother, thinking I was safe in a different room was trying to find something to put out a grease fire. But being the fun loving curious two year old I was, I decided to come into the kitchen to be with mom. I reached up for something next to the stove and knocked the pan on top of myself.

The results were 3 rd degree burns to my head, chest and back. I was told, during my year I spent in the hospital, I endured 22- 30 surgeries. One of them being a total reconstruction of my left ear. I barely remember any of the pain from my burns. But, I do remember the torment I faced at the hands of my peers. I was called many things over the years, hardly any of it was nice.

But, being who I was I had to deal with it. There was no one around at that time who understood what I was going through. They had no idea what it was like being in my shoes. So, they had nothing they could have said to make me feel better.

I know my mom tried to tell me I was special and that I was loved . But, I would think to myself that she was just saying that because she was my mom, of course she had to. Until the time I was 25 I did everything to cover my scars, I had a really bad comb over, wore a hat or whatever I could to to hide. Which, none of this worked.

I do not know how but, my sister talked me into letting her cut my hair. She then got the hair off my scar. A few months after that I still wore a hat. It was better than what I had. That hat I wore is now at the bottom of a lake in Texas. I have not had the need to wear a hat like that since. I know this sounds like I am well adjusted. But I am constantly working on it. I still need the help of people too. I am sure my mom had to deal with people who looked down on her for what had happened to me.

I am sure people wondered how a mother could ever allow something like this to happen to their child. She had to endure as I endured. She had no place to feel normal either. She had to suffer in secret, there was no one to tell her it was not her fault. Anyone who has children should know this.