This is Theresa Aleshanee, she was burned in 2012 in a cooking accident. She explained that two of her sons were cooking French fries on the stove while she was on the porch. One of her sons came running to tell her that the kitchen was on fire! She ran into the kitchen and saw that the grease had caught fire and the flames were reaching the cabinets. She reached through the flames to grab the pan and turn the stove off; as she did, her son splashed the fire with water. In his attempts to put out the fire, the water mixed with the grease and combusted. Theresa was engulfed in flames. She explained her experience of being set on fire as surreal. “I remember looking at my hand and thinking wow, that flame is so cool looking. What a beautiful color blue.” She said that she was in shock and couldn’t hear her sons screaming at her to stop, drop, and roll. One of her sons tackled her to the ground and rolled her until the flames were out. Theresa spent only a few weeks in the hospital and healed very quickly. She has had countless surgeries and is anticipating a few more to release some of the tension in her neck scarring. Theresa’s right hand is the part of her injury that she is more self-conscious about. She feels like the puffiness of the palm makes it more noticeable. I asked her about her palm and what kind of skin was used to do the grafting. (For those of you who don’t know, there are many types of grafts that can be used - pig skin, your own skin, cadaver skin, cells of your own skin grown in a lab…) She explained that the doctors wanted to use her own skin since it was such a large portion to cover. The method of grafting they used was interesting; they sewed her right hand to the right side of her body for 3 months. At the end of the 3 months, they cut the skin that had adhered to her hand and stitched up her side. Theresa is a fighter to say the least; she lovingly refers to her burns as “battle scars.” She is a single mother of 6 boys, rides motorcycles, plays the bass and sings. She has faced countless tragedies in her lifetime, but none of them have dulled her spirit. She is a bright light to be around. I asked her what helps her overcome negative thoughts, whether it be about her injury of other traumas, and she said “Music”. Music is what gets her spirits lifted when she is down and music is what keeps her centered. 

*A note from the author: I met Theresa in a Facebook group for burn survivors. She reached out to me stating she was interested in participating in The Untitled Project. We spoke on the phone and set up a quick trip. Theresa flew in from Michigan. I picked her up from the airport and got to spend the day taking pictures, visiting a few beautiful locations around Baltimore, and celebrating Cinco De Mayo together. It was a fun day, but definitely not enough time! I hope to see this beautiful lady again soon!