Pretoria - Kelvin van Baalen sounds just like any other young man, working, studying and busy building a future.
But his story is very different to that of most – he is a burn survivor whose journey of recovery is testament to the power of the human spirit.
Next month will mark five years since the event that forever changed Van Baalen’s life when, just weeks after celebrating his 21st birthday, he was competing in a paragliding competition and collided with power lines.
He lost consciousness and when he awoke, he was lying on the ground surrounded by flames and on fire. Still strapped into his paragliding harness, Van Baalen managed to unbuckle himself and crawl out of the wreckage. His injuries left him fighting for his life.
Katinka Rheeder, a specialist nurse and manager of the Netcare Milpark Hospital’s dedicated burns unit where he was treated for more than a year, said the burns recovery journey involves many small steps over a long time.
“Kelvin had sustained severe burns to approximately two-thirds of his body surface. Local trauma statistics indicated a mere 30% predicted survival rate for burn injuries of this extent and severity,” she said.
Kelvin’s skin had been burnt so badly that it could not heal or regenerate. He spent his first month in a medically-induced coma, underwent more than 27 surgeries including extensive wound debridement and skin grafts.
He also had to undergo a gruelling programme of physiotherapy and ancillary health support before being able to come off ventilation. This was more than 300 days after the accident.
Today, his reality is vastly different. He now gets up every day to conduct site checks for a construction company.
“I am also studying again. I had originally wanted to become a commercial pilot but now I’m happy to be studying BCom finance,” he said.
Even more remarkable is his return to playing sport. “I love golf and play at least once every week, and I recently became an ambassador for the Country Club Johannesburg, participating in disabled tournaments. I am currently playing a two handicap.”
More than a year after his first admission Van Baalen was discharged for the next stage of his treatment at Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital, where he stayed for two-and-a-half months.
Complications with infection, graft rejection and organ failure are common, Rheder said. The joints are usually very stiff and if daily physiotherapy is not done it can result in permanent contractures, when the tissue tightens or shortens causing pain and a reduced range of movement.
Van Baalen said it had been just three-and-a-half years since he got to come home for good. “That was not the end of digging deep – I had to push myself to walk around, adding more laps each day. But, it was worth it.”
His message to other burns survivors is to believe in yourself, no matter what you might hear. “Recovery starts slowly and then it takes off like a rocket”.
“I do not allow my burns to hold me back from living life to the fullest. You can’t change what happened, but you can embrace what you have achieved.”
Pretoria News