FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Diego, a burn patient at Community Regional Medical Center, suffered burn injuries to his legs earlier this month.
“The pain is strongest when I get out of bed,” Diego said. It hurts the most when I put my feet on the floor.”
He told Action News he has to wait 10 minutes before he can slowly start to walk.
But taking steps helps ease the pain he feels in his legs. He is also receiving physical therapy as part of his treatment.
Diego says he sustained burns while he was inspecting a car for a friend, when a loose wire on the ground unexpectedly sparked and caught his pants on fire.
“It looked awful,” Diego said. “You could see right through the skin.”
Since then, he’s been recovering at the hospital for over 20 days. To help heal patients like Diego, Community Regional Medical Center opened up its brand new Burn Therapy Gym.
The facility includes weights, an exercise ball, and a therapy bed.
“Prior to this room being implemented, our burn patients either had their therapies in their own room or they were taken down to the gym throughout the entire hospital,” said Dr. Nicole Kopori, the Burn Medical Director at CRMC, “which exposes them to potential infections or other patients.”
The Burn Therapy Gym is a new addition to CRMC’s Leon S. Peters Burn Center, and it was a project years in the making.
A generous donation from the Lemoore Volunteer Fire Department helped turn the idea into a reality. Dr. Kopori said this facility is pivotal in recovery for burn survivors.
“You cannot live without your own skin,” said Dr. Kopori. “You essentially need your skin to survive. The skin is responsible for fighting off infections and controlling fluids. It gives you that cosmetic, what you look like, your identity and helps with movement.”
CRMC is the only comprehensive burn center between Sacramento and Los Angeles.
It can take several years to recover from a burn injury. The burn therapy gym will help not only patients get stronger, but make their skin tougher.
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