Burn Injury Resource Center

My mother was in the ambulance with me. The ride was so bumpy and confusing. I started feeling pain on my back I did not know what it was. I told the paramedic what I was felling. She lifted me up a little so that she could see what was wrong. While doing so my mother started crying. To this day I don't know what she saw but I have an idea. They took me to Cornell Hospital where I was admitted to the burn unit. When I arrived at Cornell they took me into an emergency room where the doctors would remove the covers. I hated that because every time they remove the covers I would look down to see my body. I had what looked like water blisters on my body. The doctor told my mother that I was burned over 36% of my body. They were getting me ready to remove the dead skin. For some reason I was so sleepy and all I wanted to do was sleep. When I woke up all I wanted was food, and luckily my mother brought food for me. Seeing myself in bandages made me feel sad. I really didn't know what happened to me. I could not recall the accident at that point in time. All I knew was that I was feeling pain everywhere. It felt like pins were sticking in me. They put me into a room for seriously injured patients. I was in the ICU (intensive care unit). I was washed daily to remove dead skin in a room that was called The Tank. I hated the Tank, you would have to get two baths a day. The one in the morning would be in the Tank and the one at night would be in your bed. They would remove the bandages and scrub at my burns. I would scream to my mom and tell her that I don't want them to touch me. Begging her to tell them to stop, "mommy please don't let them touch me". It got so bad to I was asked the doctors if I could wash myself. The water came out full blast, I would be freezing cold when they were done. Heading back to my room, I would be shivering asking for more blankets.The doctors moved me out of that room a few days later.