Burned

nobody@vox.com(Marmot) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:52:39 -0500

A couple of months ago I had gone on a camping trip with a group of people. Each day we would pick two people to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner. Finally it was my turn for the day. On that particular day, I was to prepare grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone. Now, the stove we were using was an old 1950's propane stove with grill. It was the type that can't be retrofitted with updated equipment. So I assumed that the person I was partnered with knew how to light the grill. Boy was I wrong. When preparing to light the grill, I asked if all three knobs to the burners were supposed to be set fully on and the person replied yes. So I proceeded to do that. I turned around to get the lighter and turned back, bent down to the light the elements which are underneath the grill and in very slow motion to me, a huge fireball leapt out at me.

Now you see that day, I had decided to wear a turtleneck, but at the last minute, I decided to put on a t-shirt. Lucky for me that I did change my top or I would have had the turtleneck burned to my neck which would have made it harder to remove. During that episode, I could see the different colours of red, orange and yellow rolling towards me. With the force of the blast, it threw me across the kitchen. Of course I didn't immediately feel the pain, but boy when it hit, it was excruciating. The fireball had hit my neck and went up my face and over my head. I screamed out and everyone came running. Thankfully, there was a doctor in the group. He took really good care of me. I ended up with second and first degree burns. But I remember going to lie down and realizing I could smell my burnt hair and skin which was making me sick to my stomach, so I had to take a shower. I didn't let the water touch my face or my neck.

But I started thinking that it could have been a lot worse. I began crying because I started thinking about those women who are burned by spurned lovers or by family members for their honour. I mean, I only had pain to my neck and face and that was bad, but I couldn't imagine the pain over 75% or 90% of their bodies and having to go through skin grafts and the disfiguration of their face and bodies. It made me realize how precious life is and how truly lucky I was.

As for the discolouration on my face and neck, it’s not so bad. If you didn't know what happened to me, you would never know. So I'm thankful it wasn't worse. My boyfriend blames himself for not being there to protect me. The fact that he was caring and there for me throughout my ordeal means a lot to me. He made sure I knew how much he loved me and made sure I knew that he found me beautiful no matter how I looked. That meant more to me then anything else. So I have to say I am truly thankful all around.

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Burned