Twenty-four-year-old Evelin Fernandez had just gotten home from work when she pulled out ingredients from her fridge and turned on the stove to make dinner. Two cans of butter cooking spray sat next to the stove as they always did, so Evelin thought nothing of it, even though the cans have a flammable warning printed on them. Seconds later, the cans exploded, and flames spewed over the stove.
Out of instinct, Evelin reached for the skillet on top of the stove to try to move it, causing her arms to suffer second- and third-degree burns. She called 911 and was rushed by ambulance to the Burn Center at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
At the Burn Center, the team determined that she had burns on 24% of her total body surface area (TBSA). Evelin underwent skin graft surgery, transplanting skin from her thighs to her arms. She spent three weeks in the Intensive Care Unit, while staff tended to her wounds and she learned to change her bandages and regain function in her arms. “Even though I was in horrible and excruciating pain, I remember the nurses, occupational therapists, and other staff being amazing in how they cared for me,” recalled Evelin.
Burn Center Occupational Therapist, Rebekah Allely, worked with Evelin doing stretches, exercises, and massages, but Evelin said it was so much more than that, “Rebekah and I had a lot of conversations. She was the first person to share with me that there were other burn survivors I could connect with. Working with Rebekah was occupational therapy, but it was also like therapy, which I really needed.”
While a patient in the Burn Center, Evelin also met Deb Bateman, a fellow burn survivor and peer support volunteer at the hospital. Deb shares her story with other burn survivors and introduces them to the hospital’s burn support group and other burn victim resources, like the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors.
After 15 days in the hospital, Evelin was discharged and began outpatient rehabilitation. Three months later, she completed outpatient treatment, but she was still healing physically and emotionally. She had to wear compression garments to protect her healing skin and felt self-conscious in public. She recalled Deb sharing information about the hospital’s support group and thought that might be a good path to healing from the trauma she’d endured. “Meeting others like me gave me a sense of community and comfort,” said Evelin.
She wanted to meet even more survivors and build upon that community and decided to try adaptive sports, something Rebekah had recommended during her occupational therapy sessions. “When I started adaptive sports, I met another survivor. She told me she thought she was the only one in the world with scars like hers and that people looked at her weird, but I told her it was the same for me,” Evelin shared. “We just understood each other and the struggle to get to know people out in the world because they think there is something wrong with you. Now we call ourselves burn sisters because we’re like sisters.”
It’s been five years since Evelin’s accident, and she now looks back and can see that she has regained her confidence and found healing both inside and out. “My healing is all because of the Burn Unit care team at MedStar Washington and the fellow burn survivors I’ve met along the way,” she shared. “If I would have been sent somewhere else, I don’t think I would be able to move my arms to the extent that I can now and I wouldn’t have healed physically or emotionally in the same way. They played a big part in helping me with my emotions and becoming the person that I am right now. I learned from them that I’m not a burn victim, I’m a burn survivor.”
Advice Evelin would give other burn survivors would be to get connected with other survivors, “Never feel like you’re alone, because there is a village of brother and sister survivors who one day you will encounter and be encouraged by their story. Your scars will be a sign to others that you’ve won a battle that you thought you couldn’t win. Your scars will have a story to tell that will impact others.”
She will be attending this year’s Phoenix World Burn Congress, October 4 – 7, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD, and hopes other burn survivors will join her there.
About the Burn Center
The Burn Center at MedStar Washington Hospital Center treats more than 500 acute burn-injured patients admitted for treatment each year, with another 700 treated as outpatients. The Center is the only adult burn treatment unit in the Washington Metropolitan area, serving the District, Southern Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Eastern West Virginia. The Burn Center hosts inpatient and outpatient support groups, which are available to all burn victims, regardless of where they received treatment.
Click here to learn more about burn care and The Burn Center at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.