Tim - tissue recipient, VIC
While Tim was tinkering in his shed one night in 2006, he was unaware that a life-changing event lay ahead.
In a freak accident, heat from a potbelly stove caused a tin of paint thinners to explode in front of him, engulfing Tim in flames.
As he yelled to his wife, for help, Tim had the foresight to run outside, roll on the ground to extinguish the flames, shed his clothes and stand under tepid water until an ambulance arrived. In shock, but not in pain, Tim didn’t think he had been badly burnt.
Tim has no memory of the ambulance trip to Bendigo Hospital, nor the helicopter flight to Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital trauma centre. It was here his wife learned Tim had sustained 85% burns to his body and would have a slim chance of survival.
Incredibly – and thankfully – Tim survived. He spent more than three months in an induced coma, during which he underwent around 60 surgeries, including skin grafts all over his body, except for his face. He spent many months in hospital and in rehabilitation and wore a full protective body suit 23 hours a day.
“I had 90% of my surgery done while I was in an induced coma. I cannot ever remember going to theatre,” says Tim.
“I was told I had about 60 surgeries,” he says.
“When I first got to Melbourne, they got a load of spray-on skin from burns specialist Fiona Wood in Perth, which worked for a period until they got enough skin to keep me going,” Tim says.
Tim is forever grateful to the donors who registered their decision to donate skin tissue on the Australian Organ Donor Register, and to the donor families that kindly consented to donation during their time of grief.
Tim knows, were it not for skin tissue donation, he may not be here.
Tim is encouraging all Australians to get behind tissue donation to help others in similar circumstances.
“The way I see it is that someone lost a loved one, for my kids to have a loved one. Thanks to those people who chose to donate their skin, my three boys have a dad, and I continue to have a life with my family.”
