From Burn Survivor to Advocate
For Jason, there were times he lost hope, but the Valleywise Health doctors, nurses, and therapists, along with friends and loved ones, helped him focus on getting his life back after the accident.
On Feb. 9, 2014, Jason Nelson’s life changed forever.
Nelson was remodeling his rental house in Gilbert when he stepped into the garage for a cigarette break. Unbeknownst to him, a spark from his lighter ignited a natural gas leak and caused a flash fire.
In a matter of seconds, Nelson was engulfed in a fireball with nowhere to run.
“After I lit the cigarette, I remember hearing a crackling sound in my ear and feeling like my hair was on fire,” said Nelson. “The gas and fire wrapped around me like a bearhug, and the skin on my hand looked like wax – burned and dripping.”
Thankfully, a neighbor heard the explosion – or the sound of Nelson hitting the garage door – which triggered him to call 911.
Nelson was burned over 80% of his body. When he arrived at the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center – Valleywise Health in Phoenix, doctors gave him a 7% chance of survival.
During his eight-month recovery process, there were some very dark and bleak periods for Nelson and his family. There were times when he wasn’t sure he could keep going, “Every day, I questioned whether I would survive this or not,” he said.
The Halle Arizona Burn Center doctors determined Jason’s pain was too much for any human to bear, so he was kept heavily sedated and in a coma for more than six weeks after his arrival. His injuries were so bad raw muscles were exposed all over his body, and he has required nearly 30 surgeries to date.
“I don’t remember much about my first few months at the burn center; my first memory was in June after I had been at the hospital for nearly four months,” Nelson noted. “I had surgeries one after another after another, but the real pain was the scrubbing of the open wounds and dressing changes. I got shots of morphine every 15 minutes, and even that didn’t touch the excruciating pain.”
For Jason, there were times he lost hope, but the Valleywise Health doctors, nurses, and therapists, along with friends and loved ones, helped him focus on getting his life back after the accident.
“Everything about a burn is traumatic, from the time it happens to the treatment for it, to the challenges of recovery and imagining how you will return to life as you knew it,” Nelson said. “I think focusing on a person’s mental health during this process is just as important as focusing on the physical recovery after a burn accident.”
“That’s what’s unique about The Halle Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health,” he continued. “The doctors, nurses, and staff focus on whole-body medicine, which is what burn survivors need. Treatment from head to toe, mental and physical, is what helped me focus on getting my life back.”
Since his accident, Nelson has dedicated his life to helping other burn survivors. He was an integral part of the Valleywise Foundation Team Courage Rising group. He, along with several other burn survivors, hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest single free-standing mountain in the world, in 2022. Money raised from this adventure helps fund the new Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health.
“I never thought I would hike again after my accident,” said Nelson. “Team Courage Rising shows burn survivors can take on big challenges and ask more of ourselves and our bodies, despite what happened to us.”
“There are so many things I would like to change about that day in February 2014, but one thing I would never change is where I went after my accident,” Nelson added. “I would choose to go back to Valleywise Health again and again because the people there truly make a difference. They make your recovery possible, and without them, their remarkable knowledge, and their compassion, I would not be here today.”
To support the work of Valleywise Health Foundation.
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