Turning Pain into Purpose
It was late October, 2007 when Charlie Shyab’s Engine Company was called to respond to a house fire across the city. They were tasked with checking for fire in a neighboring row house. Indeed the fire had spread to the second floor of the adjacent house and was lapping at the back porches of several homes. Charlie and three other firefighters became trapped on the second floor while the first floor burned. With no other options all four firefighters dove down the stairs through the fire to escape.
The Officer was burned pretty severely and would make a full recovery after nine months of rehabilitation, two fellow firefighters sustained minor injuries and Charlie tore his rotator cuff and was burned across 20% of his body.
All four were taken to the burn center at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Charlie would spend three weeks there having surgeries to repair and heal his injuries.
Throughout Charlie’s stay, the D.C. Firefighters Burn Foundation was there, seeing to his and his family’s needs. They brought food, provided a presence and took many burdens off Charlie and his family so they could focus on recovery. “I had only been on the job for a few years and didn’t know any of these guys, but they totally took care of us.”
When Charlie returned to work six months later he joined the Foundation. He helped grow the impact of the Foundation by exploring additional means of supporting burn survivors. Soon they were partnering with MedStar to support other burn survivors–not just firefighters–and exploring additional programs with the rehabilitation unit at the hospital.
Now Charlie spearheads the Foundation’s involvement in The Phoenix Society’s World Burn Congress, and incredible assembly of survivors and caregivers. The Foundation covers the cost for about 30 people to attend the biennial conference.
He also organizes a Firefighters Retreat to the Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte, Co. Depending on the time of year, survivors engage in skiing, ice climbing, snowshoeing, camping, rafting, hiking, biking and more all designed to support their abilities in consideration of any injuries they may have sustained. It’s an uplifting experience that helps survivors regain their confidence. They take 10-12 firefighters on the annual trip, which is fully sponsored through the work of the Foundation,
Charlie organized a similar local experience of monthly outdoor activities to get people out and doing physical things in nature and connecting with other survivors and is hoping it regains its pre-pandemic popularity.
Charlie, who has no significant lasting impacts from that house fire in 2007, finds his burn story to be inconsequential in comparison to the fulfilling work that it led him to with D.C. Firefighters Burn Foundation.
