Burns Horror, but happy ending for industry guy’s family

This is not a story we enjoyed reading.

David Wright was working for Cairellie in Sydney as the production support unit manager when he had a call, several years ago. “My phone rang and it was my neighbor, a call I will never forget. ‘Dave, there has been an accident and you need to come home.'”

“I remember arriving and our street looked like a scene from a movie set. There was at least two fire trucks, 4 or 5 police cars and a couple of ambulances. I remember finding Amanda with the ambulance offices on the grass out the front of our house next to the garden tap, they were prepping her for transport to hospital. I went into our house and was confronted with the reality of what had happened although it would be weeks until I knew the full story. I was then reunited with my daughter who fortunately was (physically) un-injured in the fire.

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His wife Amanda was at home preparing dinner for herself and their then 3 year old daughter (Bailey) – Amanda was also 16 weeks pregnant with their second child. David was at work – life was pretty normal.

“It became a blur after that. My employer at the time drove me home, it instantly felt like my world was falling down around me. I was scared and unsure if what to do and how to react to the situation. I was terrified for my beautiful wife who was lying on the front lawn under our tap. I was also terrified for my 3yr old daughter who had witnessed the whole thing unfold and the impact it would have on her.”

“But at the same time I was determined that this terrible situation wasn’t going to stop us. From the second I stepped out of the car I was going to do what ever was needed to ensure that we would all get through it together.”

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“When we arrived at Westmead hospital the focus of the doctors there was to stabilise Amanda for transport to the Severe Burns Unit at Royal North Shore Hospital. This was also the last time I would get to talk to Amanda for the next 10 days (this was a big deal for a couple who spoke more then once a day). By midnight we were in the waiting room of the ICU at RNS and Amanda was in surgery (this would be the first of many). By 0300 the next morning we were home and Amanda was out of surgery in an induced coma, she spent 10 days under in the ICU. I can’t describe the feeling when they finally woke her up and moved her out of ICU into the Burns Unit.”

Now David and Amanda are raising funds, and this is where we as an industry can and should help.

Amanda: “I was involved in a house fire at home. I was 18 weeks pregnant withour second baby at the time when I suffered full thickness burns to my face, arms and hands. The team at Royal North Shore Hospital were nothing short of amazing while taking care not just of me, but our unborn child. I have undergone intense therapy and numerous surgeries over the past 2.5 years all the while working around giving birth to our baby boy in the middle of it. II still have a few surgeries to go before I can finally say this whole ordeal is over, one of which will be early next month.”

“Since the start of it all, my family and I have wanted to try and repay some of the fantastic support the Burns Unit has shown us over the past few years. Burns clinics do not get the fundraising they need to be able to provide equipment that would make the work of therapists easier and ALSO the comfort of the patient. We are trying to raise funds specifically for the RNSH Burns unit to be able to purchase a scanning machine
that will enable them to make moulds, masks and gloves for burns patients without the discomfort and effort that currently goes into doing so.”

HOW TO HELP

David is running in the Sydney City to Surf race, and doing other things to get fit and raise funds. You can donate, and you’ll get a TAX DEDUCTIBLE invoice. We just donatated $200, it was quick and easy. They need another $18 grand to buy the scanner. WE CAN DO THIS!

GO HERE TO DONATE!

More on what this buys, written by Amanda:

The Masks need to be worn so close after the incident itself that you often still have wounds and a whole lot of pain and
discomfort when you go in to have a mould made. The half hour process to make one is often time consuming for the therapist and not to mention painful and uncomfortable for the patient. It is a very precise procedure and it doesn’t take much for something to go wrong and you having to endure the whole process again.

This scanner would enable therapists to scan in a patients face, arm, leg, finger or whatever it may be and get the measurements required into the computer software to be able to make the mould, pain free, for the patient. It will also assist the hospital with being able to make prosthetics for patients who have lost a limb.

We have set up this fundraising account for the Burns Unit at RNSH to make it easier for people to donate. My husband and I will not stop holding events until the $20,000 is raised. Unfortunately due to the short lead time, we have had to jump on the back of the Burns Unit City 2 Surf event. We were unable to set up a generic event in time (apparently they still need paperwork for these things). However all money raised
will still be going direct to the burns unit.

I can happily say that our son was born on the 22nd of March 2012 and apart form being a little on the small side his development was not affected  by the accident at all. Our friends and family have been an amazing support network for us and today although we are still on the recovery journey we are still together and that is all that matters.

David now works at PAP as their Technical Account manager. ” I was working at Cairellie as the production support unit manager when the accident happened. Both Steve and Dave were fantastic and I don’t know how we would of survived (financially) with out their support, especially given I had only been there for 6 weeks when the accident happened.”

Best wishes to the Wright family from everyone at CX.

GO HERE TO DONATE!