The latest Peter Hughes Burns Foundation retreat to Mangrove Mountain was an experience I’ll never forget. Being my first introduction to the Foundation and the first time I’d ever come in contact with other burns survivors, I was a little apprehensive. I had no idea what to expect. I certainly had no idea of what I would gain from the experience. But as soon as I walked in to the place, a sea of friendly faces welcomed me. Warm and understanding people who held no prejudices. Who finally understood what I was going through? Needless to say, any apprehension I had was quickly dissolved.
The discussion sessions throughout the weekend were very open and informative and I especially enjoyed the extra-curricular activities plus the opportunity to chat with each person in the time between formal discussions. It was an atmosphere where I felt comfortable and trusting enough to open up and express things that I might not express in other company.
What also struck me early on was the camaraderie within the group. Every person there was brought together by a common experience and common goals. Because I was in such an infantile stage in terms of my own recovery, in some regard I felt a little awestruck by the amount of “experience” around me. I felt like I was only just born into this community and had so much yet to learn and experience before I could contribute to the discussions. But again, everyone there was so encouraging and helpful. I think that every “survivor” has something different to gain from the retreat.
Personally I gained the confidence to know that I am not alone on my road to recovery. The retreat re-affirmed to me how lucky I am to be here and what wonderful support structures I already have within my own family and friends. The Peter Hughes Burn Foundation offers the provision of extra support if I need it. For others it provides their primary support. I guess what individuals get out depends on their own needs and desires. That’s the beauty of the Peter Hughes Burn Foundation. It’s flexible. It can cater for everybody’s needs and it’s a support structure that we should really make an effort to preserve and grow. It’s unique in this country and a precious resource for burns survivors of all shapes and sizes!
A special thanks to Kazza, Grazi and everyone else who contributed to such a wonderful weekend. An experience I won’t forget.
See you in Bris-vegas!
Will Rikard-Bell
Dear PHBF members
We don’t want to make this paragraph full of “thank yous” but it is inevitable as without your support and input, the product would not have any validity for the Peter Hughes Burn Foundation.
As occupational therapists we are taught to view the person in a holistic way – as having a dynamic relationship between their occupations and their environment. With burns this means looking beyond your burns and scarring and seeing how it impacts your ability to take up the roles you had as a mother, father, husband, wife, friend and worker, when you are discharged from the burns unit.
We are also taught to use evidence based practice, using information from academic journals and literature and from you, our target population. We hope that we have been able to develop a product that is both relevant and helpful to you and your families as you are discharged from hospital. We hope that the information and strategies will be helpful for those who are unfortunate enough to experience the trauma of severe burns.
Meeting all of you at the retreat has given us a greater appreciation of the challenges and triumphs you and your families have gone through, and for some, are still going through. Your passion in creating awareness and giving support to other burns survivors and their families has been inspirational and motivating.
Thank you to the members of the PHBF for their very warm welcome and very valuable feedback during the retreat late this May. The retreat gave us a great opportunity to talk with and receive feedback from you, our stakeholders, for whom our 13 weeks of hard work was geared to.
Many thanks to Karen for her hard work in getting the retreat up and running and for including us and allowing us to participate in the group discussions and activities. Thank you also to Steve Williams for his feedback and encouraging words with regards to the scope and value of our project.
Thank you to everyone at the retreat for allowing us to take photos of you to include in our booklet – in particular James’ splint, Carol having a massage, to William and Kimberly and to Kazza and Grazi. They have been most invaluable and have contributed to making the booklet more personal and relevant to the Peter Hughes Burn Foundation.
With kind regards
Franca, Kylie, Liz, Lauren and Melizza
The Uni Students
We have just had another wonderful retreat at Mangrove Mountain, It is a wonderful place so peaceful and calm. As usual the retreat was an incredible experience for me and everyone who attended, This has been my third retreat and before each one l say to myself do l really need to go what is in it for me, but believe me each time l have come away thinking WOW that was so good, l got so much out of each one, it is almost like Hey l can let my hair down here and really be me and no one is going to make me feel like l am different or a freak, At retreat we are all the same , it is the outsiders who are different. For those of you that didn’t attend you missed seeing Kazza on the Flying Fox and the Giant swing.
Monday afternoon was a very sad time saying Good bye to old and new friends promising to keep in touch, but unfortunately we get caught up in our everyday life and put our friends from the Peter Hughes Burn Foundation on a back burner until the next retreat. Please l urge you keep in touch we will have all received Kazza’s email about the E-List, so please do keep in touch through that and on Chat on a Tuesday night. We all have something in common so let’s all stick together and support one another not only with Burns Issues, but anything that is troubling you ( a pain shared is a pain halved) we are all there to support each other through anything that is causing pain. I would like to send a special thank you to Linda and Mick from Mangrove Mountain; they both went out of their way to make our stay really special. And thanks Linda for bringing Sheils (Linda Cockatiel) she was a great ice breaker. Also a special thanks to Susan who came over and donated her time and gave massages to those that wanted one, they are great, l highly recommend them for pain relief. Also a big thank you to Kazza who did most of the organising and also to Steve Williams it was great to see him again and for him to take time out of his busy schedule to facilitate the retreat for us. Finally l encourage all of you to start thinking about the next retreat. If you feel that there is nothing you can get out of it, think about what you can put into it for others.
Dawn