A bonfire explosion left Briget Hanlon permanently scarred, but she wants to help inspire others with sharing her journey, her scars and the help her family received from a provincial burn fund.
Three years of multiple skin grafts and therapy have restored her health, but Hanlon credits a lot of the success to the BC Professional Firefighters Burn Fund for helping herself and her family cope with the long periods in hospital and away from her community, as well as paying for several expenses to ease the family’s financial burdens.
Hanlon described the night she and three other people were burned at a bonfire in the gravel pits near Grand Forks on April 9, 2022, about a half kilometre from her home. She was standing with her back to the fire, talking with her friend, Julie Chursinoff, and her brother’s girlfriend when they were suddenly engulfed in a fireball.
What they didn’t see was that another person had tossed a bottle filled with gasoline and motor oil into the fire, which exploded and showered people with flaming debris.
“We were talking and suddenly I just saw fire and it was all over my body,” she said. “I beat the fire out of my hair and started rolling on the ground and people were smacking me. They got some water and my brother. My hair was burned and it burned much of the back of my right leg.”
Four people were hit with fire, but she and Julie Chursinoff were the only ones to receive third-degree burns, which required both to be airlifted to Vancouver for immediate medical care.
Hanlon’s mother joined her shortly after to help in her care. It was at that time they learned about the Burn Fund and the services they offer to help survivors and families. Through the fund’s Home Away From Home program, the fund helped pay for her mother’s hotel stays. In addition, they helped with connecting and paying for therapists for mental health. The most critical help came when Hanlon had healed enough to be sized for compression garments, which helped smooth out scars. The fund helped pay for those as well, as they are quite expensive, said Hanlon.
In addition, Grand Central Car Wash put on a fundraiser for her and another burn survivor from that night, which was split between the two. The Hanlon’s used it to pay for meals and gas.
The extent of the burn scars go from her ankle to just below her buttocks, with a few small spots on her left leg. Treating the burns required therapeutic baths, casts and taking skin grafts from her right upper thigh, which also left scars.
She praised hospital staff for everything they did to help her heal, including helping her spend time with Chursinoff. Both of them were bedridden during burn treatment, spending most of it laying on their stomachs.
“It was really cute. She was in a room across the hall from me and the staff would wheel me out to the hall and wheel her closer to the door so we could talk about our surgeries together,” she said.
The experience also led to romance for Hanlon.
Part of the Burn Fund’s services includes sending young patients to a Burn Camp in Squamish to help with mental recovery through spending time with other burn survivors. While there, Hanlon met current Grand Forks Fire/Rescue Work Experience member Ben Hooton. They started dating, and eventually Hooton moved in with Hanlon when he arrived in Grand Forks for his year-long training with the firefighters.
Beyond asking people to be cautious around fires, with lighters and throwing anything into an open bonfire, she wanted to show her appreciation for the community and the Burn Fund for all their help in her journey.
And that journey included accepting and embracing what happened.
“I’m not ashamed of my scars, I’m proud of my body,” she said. “Now that I've been burnt, I know there’s a story behind it and it just adds to who you are as a person, instead of something that takes away from your identity. I wish the guy would formally apologize, but it’s a road of healing and burn camp significantly improved that. This has brought so many positive outcomes.”
Ticket sales from the Hometown Heroes Lottery support Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) and UBC Hospital Foundation by raising funds for specialized adult health services at VGH, UBC Hospital, G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, and Vancouver Community Health Services, stated a news release. They also support Burn Fund programs, such as the Home Away from Home program, which offers accommodations to burn and trauma survivors at the Burn Fund Centre in Vancouver, mental health support for burn survivors and fire fighters, as well as the annual Burn Camp for young burn survivors.
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