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| Where we lived out in the Jack Fork Mountains (beyond the boonies), it took anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour just to reach pavement. Even then you had a ways to drive before reaching a town. After dropping the kids off at my mother in laws, we headed out to meet the ambulance on the Indian Nation Turnpike. My husband was tearing down the dirt road but kept looking over at me and saying "It doesn't look all that bad." I kept telling him to watch the road over and over again (you know how dangerous winding dirt roads can be). I sang Amazing Grace under my breath the whole trip, and prayed he didn't kill us both on the way to meet the ambulance. You would think by this time I would be in tremendous pain, but the only place hurting was the bottoms of my feet. My mother in law had given me a wet dish towel to put under my feet. I was told that a propane flash fire gets very hot very fast, and that my nerve endings were burnt off, and that probably accounted for the lack of pain. We made the 45 minute drive in about 15 to 20 minutes, got on the turnpike, and raced towards McAlester (Oklahoma). It wasn't long before we saw the ambulance that my mother in law had called to meet us. We pulled over and the ambulance made a U-turn across the median. My legs, arms, face, and waist were burned, so the EMT's weren't sure how to get me out without either doing more damage to me or hurting me. There was no other way but to hook their arms under my shoulders and my knees. It didn't hurt. They put me on the gurney, started an IV of saline solution to keep fluids in my body, and we continued on to the ER in McAlester. Every now and then I would raise my head and look out the back window so I could see my husband's truck. I don't know why, but that sticks out in my mind. It was probably because of the truck's engine still doing 90 mph after he had put it in park. It ran on propane and I was afraid it was going to blow up. I didn't think I could survive 2 explosions in one day. After reaching the hospital, and cutting my clothes off, the doctor determined that my burns were too extensive for them to handle. The doctor told my family that my burns were only second degree at that point, but by the time I reached Hillcrest, they would more than likely be third degree. They called a burn center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and one in Ft Smith, Arkansas to see if one of them would take me. Both said they would and I chose to go to Tulsa's Hillcrest Hospital. They sent a helicopter to pick me up, and if I remember correctly, it was 20 to 30 minutes later when they arrived. As they were wheeling me out to the chopper, I heard my mother in law say "Kemii, don't worry about the kids. You concentrate on getting well." I was glad to hear that because I was worried about who would take care of them while I was gone. As the EMT's from the chopper were rolling me out, one of them told my husband "Your truck can't keep up with this helicopter so don't try." I thought that was so funny. |
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