Firefighters from all over South Florida joined dozens of staff from Holtz Children’s Hospital to say goodbye to Abigail Alcenat. She had been a patient in the burn unit since January. Sitting in a wheelchair, Abi\u2019s father wheeled her through the crowd of well-wishers to a waiting van.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They cheered, not for a hero; they applauded for resilience, for courage, for an 11-year-old girl who was badly burned on more than 58% of her body.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say today is the greatest day for me,\u201d said Edjohns Alcenat, Abi\u2019s father. \u201cThat make me so happy, especially for this hospital and the people we meet, that make me so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is a very emotional day; it\u2019s actually a little more emotional than I thought it would\u2019ve been, to be working with her for the past seven months has been an incredible journey,\u201d said Dr. Shevonne Satahoo, one of the Jackson Memorial Hospital physicians on the team that cared for Abi.<\/p>\n
The girl\u2019s survival was not assured. Dr. Satahoo says it was touch-and-go for a time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely is a testament to the amazing team that we have here at the Miami Burn Center. It\u2019s been hard on all of us, I would say emotionally and physically,\u201d Dr. Satahoo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The car crash happened on Jan. 4\u00a0in West Palm Beach. Abi was trapped in the back seat of a car driven by her brother, Jonathan Alcenat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw the car, I don\u2019t know how any of us made it out alive,\u201d her brother said, explaining that he woke up in a hospital four days later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he doesn\u2019t remember the accident at all. Now he\u2019s just happy to see his sister go home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very emotional, it\u2019s a very emotional day for all of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Among the crowd Thursday was Christopher Sheehan, the Palm Beach County firefighter who pulled Abi out of the inferno.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strength it takes to be in that situation and handle it the way she has is incredible, every time I see her, every time I get to talk to her she\u2019s happy, she\u2019s smiling, it\u2019s a type of like, beauty and strength that is just a blessing from God, it\u2019s so great to see her get to this point,\u201d Sheehan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n