年僅 18 個月大的燒傷倖存者 Tilly 講述她的故事

As part of our ‘Burn Injury is for Life’ campaign, each month we’re sharing with you the inspiring story of a burn survivor. In April we’re proud to highlight the story of Tilly who was burned at just 18 months old when she pulled a kettle of freshly boiled water over herself, sustaining 33% burns to her body. Tilly initially spent two months in hospital following the incident. Here is Tilly’s story…

When I was little I really struggled to speak to anybody, I would be reluctant to make friends or participate in any social activity, I would even move my chair away from others at school! I used to ask my mum if I could ‘rip them off’, I just didn’t feel normal. I had to have operations for more skin grafts to take skin from different parts of my body – (which meant more scars) during crucial times such as during exams in school and had to spend my 10^第 birthday in the hospital. I found it difficult meeting new people because I knew they would want to ask what they were, and I’d have to tell the story every time. I didn’t buy certain clothes or want to go swimming, I was worried about being judged. Thankfully the majority of people were and are extremely accepting and it didn’t faze most! I realised growing up that my lack of confidence in speaking to people or speaking out loud, in general, stayed with me for years, I understand now that it is a mental trauma that I’ve had since I can remember and I labelled it as a ‘phobia of speaking’ and anxiety. I sometimes still struggle to speak to people one to one and when people meet me now they would probably not believe this story, because I’ve now managed to develop a persona to carry me through public speaking and presenting. Almost like an alter ego!

I followed my passion for animals and I decided at a young age I wanted to make a difference to help them, so I dedicated my time through school, college, university and gained experience to get me where I am today. Thanks to the support from my family and the Pinderfields burns club, I was able to grow and develop mentally and realise that I wasn’t alone. I have only truly felt myself in the last 5 years and since then I have worked in several zoological collections caring for many different species! I then devoted my time in trying to overcome my phobia and speaking trauma and realised that my personality shines through everything. I am such a positive and optimistic person every single day and I let that shine through in my work, since then my biggest audience has been 10,000 people – presenting for Peter Andre, continuing on to other artists such as S club, Big Brovas & Booty luv, Union J, Heather Small and then to all of my daily animal displays and presentations too! I have also started presenter training for other major companies as well as my normal day to day animal care role. If someone had said to me I would be doing this 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have believed it. I consider myself to be so lucky every single day and I am who I am because of the burns on my chest, and I would not change that for the world.

I am now surrounded by an incredible circle of family and friends and my partner whom I am engaged to, and they saw the light in me when I didn’t see it myself. I have not disclosed this story to many, but I hope you can use it to inspire others and I hope it makes a difference because as long as I am making a positive difference, I am happy.

Thank you so much to Tilly for sharing her story with us.