Mitch suffered second-degree burns over 60% of his body. One of the few fortunate things about this experience is that he is "only" 21 years old. Fortunate in that he is healing rapidly, but it's a tragedy that such a brave and strong young man is suffering this much so early in his life. A nicer, more-courteous young man you are not likely to find.
On this visit, we got to go inside the ICU and visit with Mitch for about a half hour. It is painful just to see him. On the plus side, his face was almost totally spared, but all of his hair was burnt off and his scalp got badly singed. Doctors removed some of his right ear for a skin graft elsewhere on his body. His left and right leg is totally bandaged, and only his right foot was uncovered. All of his arms are bandaged, and only two of his ten fingers were unbandaged, although deeply scarred. He struggles to simply lift his arms. About half of his torso is also wrapped in bandages.
The morning of our visit, they got Mitch up and he walked (with the aid of a walker, of course) up and down the hall a bit, the first time he'd been able to walk any since the fire. His eyes were clear and sharp, his voice was full if somewhat halting, and his sense of humor was returning.
I cannot imagine what he is going through at this time. They say that recovering from a bad burn is one of the more painful experiences. He has undergone at least one skin graft operation per week since he arrived at UTMB, and they have taken his own skin from everywhere that they could, so now they are using some cadaver skin on him.
Every day he has to spend some time in the "tub room" where they perform debridement. He hates this as much as anything he has undergone since the fire. Even though he is on industrial-strength painkillers, he was complaining that his back was "excrutiating." They will only give you so much of the pain killing medicine, and then you have to just tough it out.
Shortly after he arrived at UTMB, he contracted shingles and pneumonia, two rather serious complications which have prolonged his recovery, but fortunately he is now clear of both of those.
It's estimated that he will remain in the ICU for at least another month. After that, he will likely move to a regular room in the hospital for at least another month before being allowed to go home. But even once home, he is facing months and months of physical therapy.
The community really rallies around wounded firefighters and policemen, as they should. There are not that many professions where people put their lives on the line for others every single day. The city of Bryan has someone stationed at the hospital 24/7 in case Mitch needs anything. The Lighthouse Charity Team of Galveston has provided endless food, free housing for the families of the injured as long as they need it, and any other kind of support you can imagine. If you ever wanted to help out those who help others, this is a good place to start. There has also been an endless stream of Bryan firefighters and Galveston Fire and Rescue guys coming by to check on him. I think you can confidently say that these people (firefighters especially) are the best that America has to offer. Humanity, perhaps.
This hits close to home for us because Mitch has been dating one of our nieces for the past couple of years. They are (still) planning to get married. Our niece is holding up pretty well, considering, despite losing 15 pounds since the ordeal. She travels back and forth from San Marcos where she is finishing college to Galveston whenever she can (which is every week), staying in the housing provided by the Lighthouse Charity Team.
After seeing Mitch, seeing him so torn up, thinking about his pain, and realizing the rehabilitation that he is going to have to endure for the next year or so, I swear I will not complain about ANYTHING.
I salute the nation's firefighters.
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