Vinesh Samy

My name is Vinesh Samy, I have been a burn survivor for 7 years. I live in Hillsborough, Auckland. I am a painter by profession and do small jobs. I was burnt in September 2018 when I was 45 years old. I had 3 degree burns to half my body, full face 65% burns. I was in a coma for 1 month. Later shifted to the burns unit. After 6 months in hospital, I was able to find a place to stay. It was a big adjustment having to change the way I lived my new normal. It involved moisturizing 3 times a day, wearing pressure garments, and splints on my hands. Pressure garments were something out of nightmares, horrible to wear especially during summer weather. I was supported by the team of new Healthcare, helping me shower, moisturize morning and evening. Surgeries are ongoing, release of both my left and right elbows, fingers, and I hated wearing splints. I was also attending the hospital gym once a week, physical exercise keeping movement of my body. I am thankful to my surgeons for all the work done by the team. It was difficult to face the public with my burnt face but there was a lot of support from the burns OT team. Friends gave me more confidence. People still stare all the time when I walk in public. Sometimes it aggravates me and other times it doesn’t. New people ask questions when they see, what happened? Others don’t bother. So, I let myself face the public, everyone reacts differently, and you learn to expect it.

My old company, whom I was painting with before the accident, supported me a lot, saved me, gave me confidence and small jobs kept me busy. Later I found a friend who helped me, and I helped him. Also, there was a fishing trip organised by the Burn Support Group. It was fun and it meant meeting new friends. I can’t really hide away from the public and their stares, I love to talk, and I've learnt to be happy listening to others. I really like to hear about other people who are like me.