Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1209536
NOVI, Mich. - A single match can change a life.
Pam O'Neall is an employee of the J.C. Penney Co. store at Twelve Oaks Mall. When she isn't working, she loves getting a suntan and spending time with her grandchildren. Most people know her as a fun-loving person with a bright personality, but what they may not know is where the long scar on her right arm came from.
O'Neall grew up in Clarkston until she moved to Ortonville at 15. At 10, she received a candle-making kit as a gift and was in the process of blowing out one of the matches when she dropped it, causing her nightgown to catch on fire.
"I can remember running around and screaming trying to put it out," O'Neall said.
Her mother managed to get it out by wrapping her in a blanket, then drove her to the hospital. The only parts of her body that escaped burning were her face and parts of her arms. She spent more than three months there getting treated for third-degree burns, and missed half a year of school. O'Neall recalled how painful it was when they changed the bandages, especially if they got too dry.
"I almost died from infection because my bandages weren't cleaned and changed often enough."
Because of the burns, O'Neall had to go to Shriner's hospital in Ohio yearly for more than two weeks, once undergoing skin graft surgery on her legs. Despite what she went through, O'Neall was always thankful that it wasn't any worse. Once upon returning to Shriner's she saw a child who had 90 percent of his body burned.
"They had to put the IV through his toe," she said.
Even after the physical pain was long gone, O'Neall said that it was still emotionally scarring. She had some nervous habits until she was 17, such as picking her skin and eyebrows. Even today things like going to the beach are difficult for her, because sometimes she feels like people are staring at her because of her scars. She usually wears long skirts when going out to keep her legs covered, because she said the skin grafts on her legs had too much skin in them and look similar to the other scarring.
"It makes her insecure about her body," said Lolene Roper, also an employee for J.C. Penney.
Carolyn Green, another co-worker and seamstress, has made some clothes for O'Neall.
"She likes halter tops and dresses as long as they don't come down too low, because of the scarring on her back," Green said. "She doesn't ever wear shorts."
Despite this, O'Neall is getting better at combating self-consciousness.
"I still wonder if anyone will want me," she said. "I guess if people like me for who I am then scars won't matter."
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