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A Journey Back For Parkland’s youngest burn patients, going back to school is a difficult transition. While severe burn injuries require ongoing medical care, many hospital visits, multiple surgeries and continuous therapy, perhaps just as hard are the stares and questions. Twelve year old, Stephanie Sanderson, admits the transition wasn’t easy. Two years ago she suffered burns on her hands, feet, arms, legs and body. “I’ve been in school for a year since my accident and things really changed for me,” she says. “People didn’t want to be around and I didn’t know what to do.” For this reason, the Parkland Burn Unit staff began a program called Journey Back to help children and teens re-enter school with confidence and support by educating teachers and students about burn injuries. “Some of the younger children think that they may catch something from a burn patient because they don’t understand the injury,” says Sue Vanek, burn program coordinator. “When we talk to the students, we use a skin model so we can teach them about the different degrees of a burn injury and that you can’t catch a scar or burn. This demystifies the injury and gives us an opportunity to lead into a discussion about empathy and respect.” Sanderson asked the team for help. The Journey Back program visited her sixth grade class in Cleburne. “I shared my story with my school and they aren’t afraid to be around me anymore,” she says. “It was an amazing experience and taught me to have confidence in myself and not let anyone get me down.” Aside from scars, burn patients also wear special garments, such as splints or facemasks, to help with the healing process. “At the school presentations, the students have an opportunity to look at and touch the garments and splints and discuss why a burn patient would need to wear them,” Vanek says. It’s up to the burn survivor if the program visits his or her school. Each session is led by a nurse and occupational therapist. Smaller schools have had an assembly for the entire school while others have offered presentations to classrooms. After presenting the Journey Back program at Sanderson’s school, respect and empathy are evident. “I dropped my books one day and a boy came by, picked them up and took them to my science class for me,” she adds with a smile in her voice. |
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