Painful past a balm for burn victims Survivors offer comfort, hope to families struggling on the long road to recovery in burn unit.(News)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), September, 2003 | by St. Clair, Stacy

Byline: Stacy St. Clair Daily Herald Staff Writer Anita Smerz was surrounded by doctors, nurses, family and friends. And she never felt so alone. Her 6-year-old son, Jakob, lay in a hospital bed with third- degree burns covering 20 percent of his body. Time and painful surgeries eventually would turn his charred skin into permanent scars on his chest, abdomen and left arm.

She couldn't drown the worries that swam in her head. When would his excruciating pain subside? How would she take care of him at home? What emotional toll would the ordeal take on him? "I didn't know I could feel so alone with so many people around," she said. "Everyone said they understood what I was going through, but they didn't." Everyone, that is, except Birger Christensen...