Behind the Badge
Hope Henkel is enjoying her first visit to California this week, spending time with some old friends – and meeting new ones — in Anaheim.
Some of her friends managed to get away to the beach during a four-day conference at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Hope, 22, of Shawano, Wis., couldn’t join them. The bottoms of her feet are too sensitive for her to walk on the sand.
On March 2, 2013, Hope, who was just about to turn 16, lost most of her family in a fiery crash on a Kentucky highway that killed six.
Burn survivors and their supporters who participated in a Walk of Remembrance gather to hear speakers at the start of the four-day Phoenix World Burn Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
The SUV the family was in was rear-ended by a semitrailer truck that failed to brake when traffic slowed because of another accident.
Other motorists pulled Hope and her adopted brother, Aidian, then 13, to safety before the SUV burst into flames, killing the parents who were just about to adopt Hope, as well as a 93-year-old family friend and two of Hope’s sisters and a brother who already had been adopted.
Burn survivor Hope Henkel (red purse and shirt) with most of her adoptive family in a photo taken a year before a fiery crash in 2013 on a Kentucky highway that killed six. Only she and her brother Aidian (front, black shirt), survived. Hope lost her father, Jim Gollnow, back row left; sister Sereena (next to Jim); brother Gabriel (red shirt); mother Barbara, and a family friend (far right). Also killed but not in this picture was Hope’s sister, Soledad, 8. Photo courtesy of Hope Henkel
Also killed was a girl, 8, who was going to be adopted on the same day as Hope.
Hope suffered a broken spine and burns to 43 percent of her body from the waist down. She almost lost both her feet.
Solded, 8, died in the 2013 car crash in Kentucky. Photo courtesy of Hope Henkel
She was among more than 1,000 burn survivors from around the world who assembled Oct. 2-5 for the Phoenix World Burn Congress (WBC), an annual gathering of members of the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering anyone affected by a burn injury.
Last hosted by the City of Anaheim and Anaheim Fire & Rescue in 2014, Phoenix WBC gives burn survivors a chance to meet fellow survivors and attend workshops and listen to speakers to help them in the various stages of their recovery.
The bonds of burn survivors run deep, and the Phoenix WBC is an outpouring of love, fellowship, joy, and tears. Hope attended her first conference, in Indiana, in 2015.
Anaheim Fire & Rescue’s Honor Guard walks out after posting the colors at a breakfast during the opening ceremony at the Anaheim Convention Center for the 2019 Phoenix World Burn Congress on Thursday, Oct. 3.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
“God took away my family,” says Hope, who is expected to graduate from college next spring and become a veterinarian technician, “but he also gave me another one. There’s no one in the world except us who understand our scars and pain.”
The opening breakfast ceremony of the Phoenix World Burn Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center on Oct. 3.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
POIGNANT MEMORIAL WALK
On Wednesday, Sept. 2, the first day of the Phoenix World Burn Congress, attendees participated in a short but poignant Walk of Remembrance in the courtyard outside the Anaheim Convention Center.
They walked past the entrance of the Hilton Anaheim and then down a street lined with palm trees and firefighters from AF&R and other O.C. fire agencies.
Anaheim Fire & Rescue Capt. Rob Lester speaks during the breakfast session of the Phoenix World Burn Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center on Oct. 3.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Several speakers then took to a stage against a towering backdrop of two AF&R trucks with a U.S. flag draped between them.
As she listened to the speakers, Hope held a picture of her late family: father Jim Gollnow, who was 65; mother Barbara Gollnow, 63; sister Sereena, 18; brother Gabriel, 10; brother Aidian, 13 (he survived); and family friend Marion, 93. Not in the picture, taken a year before the deadly crash, was sister Soledad, 8, who also died.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Anaheim Fire & Rescue last hosted the Phoenix WBC in 2014, and will be among three cities to host it moving forward, the others being Grand Rapids, Mich. (headquarters of the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors) and Providence, R.I.
“We’re here to show support for them and to let them know we will be with them moving forward,” said AF&R Battalion Commander Brett Faulkner. “For many, this is the first time for them to be out in public.“
Anaheim Fire & Rescue Fire Chief Pat Russell is recognized as the story about he was seriously burned after entering a house on fire to rescue others is told during the Phoenix World Burn Congress opening ceremony at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
After the walk, AF&R Chaplain Nathan Zug called for a moment of silence before he delivered an invocation.
“Father in heaven…thank you for every person in this gathering tonight,” Zug said. “We thank you for all those who are burn survivors for their families, for their friends. Thank you for caregivers and for health professionals, for firefighters and those in the fire service — also for those in the military and in the police service. Thank you that we can gather together tonight just simply to be together.
Oak Bay Fire Chief Gerry Adam, left, and Yogi Schreiber of Baltimore County Fire, both retired, present James “Jimmy” DiGregory with the Joe Kickey Fire Service Award at the Phoenix World Burn Congress opening ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 2.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
“Thank you that we can draw strength and support from one another,” Zug said. “Thank you that we can journey together. Thank you that we can draw strength as we build a community for transformational healing.”
AF&R Chief Pat Russell, a burn survivor who was seriously injured in a structure fire several years ago, spoke about the important mission of the Phoenix Society World Burn Congress, a mission “that we hold dear in our hearts.”
Michelle Anderson (right) and Alexi Pyles of the Phoenix Society at the Phoenix World Burn Congress opening ceremony.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Added Russell: “In my nearly 35 years of being a firefighter, I have witnessed and treated many burn patients, both citizens and firefighters, and have many times asked myself what quality of life will they return to and how will they ever move past this life-changing event.”
Russell spent several weeks in the burn ward at UCI Medical Center.
Anaheim Fire & Rescue officials and members of the Phoenix Society participate in a remembrance walk at the Anaheim Convention Center on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
“Although my recovery was minor compared to many,” he said, “I can share many of the same thoughts of fear and uncertainty on recovering.
“It was through the efforts and care of so many medical professionals, my fire family, and my own family that we came together to help me heal both physically and emotionally.”
Participants in the remembrance walk smile as they listen to speaker Hyunsook Yoon outside the Anaheim Convention Center.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
HORRIFIC TOLL
Amy Acton, executive director of the Phoenix Society, told the crowd that every year worldwide, 180,000 people lose their lives to fire, and millions more are injured.
“That’s a big problem,” Acton said. “If we don’t address this issue, who will do it, if not us?”
Attendees of the 2019 Phoenix World Burn Congress participate in a remembrance walk outside the Anaheim Convention Center.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Acton talked about her own burn injury and how recovering from it first was very difficult.
“I couldn’t quite see (the) future,” Acton said. “I was weighed down with the struggle of it all, and the frustration and all the things we feel in that early part of our struggle, but when I (now) look out at you and I engage with this community, I (see) that there is hope and purpose and meaning and real success when we work together.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
“I know some of you right now might be feeling really in your own story and just starting to make a step forward,” Acton continued. “And I hope being here brings you comfort and community and some joy, because you’re not alone anymore.”
Hope, who grew up in foster care after age 10, struggled after losing her family and recovering in a hospital. After that she attended a burn camp, an experience that changed her life.
Delwyn Breslau, left, presents Mona Krueger the Phoenix Society’s Breslau Award during the Phoenix World Burn Congress breakfast at the Anaheim Convention Center on Oct. 3.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
She recalls the hurt she felt when people made fun of her appearance. One of her burned legs is thinner than the other, and both of her legs are severely scarred.
Hope recalls walking into a Wal-Mart in shorts.
“Somebody asked me if I had AIDS,” Hope says.
Phoenix World Burn Congress opening breakfast ceremony attendees do the hokey pokey dance during Dianne Morris Jones’ speech to close out the breakfast session of the Phoenix World Burn Congress.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
She was bullied in high school. Mean kids called her “Chicken Legs.”
Doctors told Hope she never would walk again. She proudly says she now can run a mile.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
And she’s hopeful an upcoming surgery will correct her feet so she will be able to walk on the beach barefoot soon.
“It’s so beautiful here,” Hope says. “The sun is shiny and there’s something to do all times of the day, and the people are so friendly.”
Members of Anaheim Fire & Rescue’s Honor Guard lead a remembrance walk to start the Phoenix World Burn Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center on Oct. 2.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Hope’s accident was horrible, “but a lot of good came out of it,” Hope says, referring to the lifelong friends she has met through the Phoenix Society and at the World Burn Congress.
Andrea Moni, an Irvine artist and mother who spoke at Wednesday’s ceremony, echoed Hope’s comment.
OCFA Pipes & Drums members march to the stage during a remembrance walk at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
“In our woundedness, we can become an inspiration for others,” said Moni, who suffered serious burns to 7 percent of her body a few years ago after an accident involving an ethanol-fueled tabletop fireplace at an outdoor dinner party
“Ethanol works very fast, and it’s very hot,” said Moni, whose burns are what are known as “hidden burns” — ones that can be covered in clothing.
Moni’s husband jumped on her and put out the flames before paramedics arrived. She spent 20 days in ICU and underwent four skin grafts and other surgeries.
AF&R Fire Chief Pat Russell addresses the walkers who participated in a remembrance walk to start the Phoenix World Burn Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
“During that time, I thought there’s got to be a purpose, a reason that I’m in this situation,” Moni said. “And during that time, I created a new way of doing art. Now I collaborate with other people that need healing and I create paintings, and I’m traveling around the world talking about how to make a new purpose out of what happens to us.”
Moni’s art, along with works by Yuri Boyko, will be featured at an exhibit May 2-30, 2020 at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art called “Present: Future of the Past” (occca.org).
Honor Guards from Anaheim Fire & Rescue, Anaheim Police, and Huntington Beach Fire stand guard during a remembrance walk ceremony in front of the Anaheim Convention Center.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
“I feel grateful every single day that I’m alive because I know that there’s so many people that are not because of burns and all the people that give their lives to save ours,” said Moni, a volunteer with the Phoenix Society whose mission is to bring make it a law that “flame arresters” must be put on all fuel bottles.
Russell closed the post-walk ceremony with a last alarm bell ceremony, in which a bell is rung five times in three cycles to signify that a comrade has responded to his or her last alarm.
AF&R Fire Chief Pat Russell addresses the crowd.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Burn survivor Mary McCubbin listens to the speakers. Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Mary McCubbin, 28, of Michigan, attended the Phoenix WBC in Anaheim, her fourth one. She suffered burns to 90 percent of her body when a candle lit her house on fire when her parents left her alone in her crib when she was 9 months old in her native Brazil.
McCubbin lived in an orphanage for a while before being adopted into a large family of adoptees with special needs.
Deb Minton presents Howard Tellepsen and Jim Pauley, right, with the Harman Award at the Phoenix World Burn Congress opening ceremony on Oct. 3.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
She said the worst part of her recovery was having to wear a mask on her face for six months after undergoing surgery when she was in the fourth grade.
McCubbin, who now is a caretaker for special-needs adults and an owner of a residential and commercial cleaning company, has been attending burn camps all her life.
Members of Anaheim Fire & Rescue’s Honor Guard stand at attention during the singing of the National Anthem at the start of the 2019 Phoenix World Burn Congress opening ceremony at the Anaheim Convention Center on Oct. 3.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
She says she enjoys most the group bonding at the Phoenix WBC.
“Everyone has their story, and I like listening to them and how they made it through (recovery),” McCubbin says. “Listening to how they overcome obstacles is just really inspiring to me, and I love meeting new people.”
Members of Anaheim Fire & Rescue stand with others during the singing of the National Anthem at the start of the 2019 Phoenix World Burn Congress opening ceremony.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Licensed Mental Health Counselor Dianne Morris Jones closes out the breakfast session of the Phoenix World Burn Congress.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Hyunsook Yoon gives her remarks with AF&R Chief Pat Russell behind her during a Phoenix Society Walk of Remembrance ceremony on Oct. 2.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Anaheim Fire & Rescue Honor Guard Michel Bowidowicz rings the bell at the conclusion of a remembrance walk ceremony to start the Phoenix World Burn Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center on Oct. 2.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
Attending the Phoenix Burn Congress remembrance walk are, from left, Andrea Moni, AF&R Chaplain Nathan Zug, Hyunsook Yoon, AF&R Fire Chief Pat Russell, Phoenix Society Executive Director Amy Acton, and Jim Pauley, president and chief executive officer of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
AF&R Chief Pat Russell, center, gathers with others from AF&R’s Honor Guard and Anaheim Police in front of the Anaheim Convention Center at the conclusion of a remembrance walk ceremony to open the Phoenix World Burn Congress.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
AF&R firefighters from Truck 6 and Truck 3 work at the bottom of each ladder to straighten the flag draped between the two trucks in front of the Anaheim Convention Center before the opening of the Phoenix World Burn Congress on Oct. 2.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
A participant awaits the start of the Walk of Remembrance. Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge
