At 6, she suffered a devastating burn – now she’s serving to different youngsters heal

JOHNSTON COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) — A Johnston County woman who survived a traumatic burn harm is now sharing her story to assist different kids going through related challenges.

Elena Castro Rivera mentioned it isn’t simple to speak about what occurred to her in 2020, when she was simply 6 years previous.

“We’re just having fun and then my foot got stuck in the front wheel and it like scraped all my skin where you could see the bone,” Elena mentioned.

Elena was driving a motorbike together with her father when her foot turned trapped within the wheel, inflicting a extreme friction burn.

“I couldn’t kind of feel anything because like all the nerves are cut off, but like it was still scary,” she mentioned.

Her mom, Alma Rivera Donato, mentioned the household instantly went into “survival mode.”

“Then they sent us to the Wake emergency room and they’re like nope … this is a burn,” Alma mentioned.

Dr. Felecia Williams with the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals mentioned Elena suffered a friction burn.

“So, her burn was quite deep that we couldn’t actually do it in one operation,” Williams mentioned.

The restoration course of took months and included studying the best way to stroll once more.

“Lots of learning. Learning to walk again. To run again,” Alma mentioned.

Williams mentioned friction burns might be particularly troublesome for youngsters.

“It can be very painful. They’re high risk for infection, but she did really, really well,” Williams mentioned.

Elena mentioned one in every of her greatest fears after the harm was feeling completely different from different kids.

“Maybe I will be different than everybody. I would be made fun of,” Elena mentioned. “But that didn’t happen.”

Shortly after her harm, Elena attended Camp Celebrate, the oldest camp for pediatric burn survivors. Many campers are handled on the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals, however all kids are welcome to attend.

Williams mentioned the camp offers kids a spot the place they don’t have to fret about their scars.

“They can celebrate being a survivor, a young survivor and child with a burn injury with other children and not be afraid of the scars … not worry about somebody looking at them,” Williams mentioned.

Elena mentioned the expertise helped her regain confidence.

“You don’t have to hide anything. You can have fun without anybody judging you,” she mentioned.

Williams mentioned kids with burn accidents are sometimes unfairly judged due to seen scars.

“Often people are judged by their scars. People think that those scars would be limitations for them,” Williams mentioned. “But in this space, this is an opportunity to be a kid and enjoy life and enjoy all the things that everybody thinks about when it comes to summer and it comes to going to camp and having fun and not being judged.”

Today, Elena continues to attend Camp Celebrate yearly, and her sister now serves as a camp counselor.

“It’s taught her empathy to others and has taught her understanding to others,” Alma mentioned.

Elena mentioned the camp has turn out to be a spot of therapeutic and lasting recollections.

“You have fun and make memories and when you grow up you look back, like how many memories you took here and how much you had fun and this cured you,” she mentioned.