Suddenly, a burner began to leak fuel. The fuel caught fire and exploded.
With her skin burning, Grandison dove from the kitchen onto the ground outside the trailer.
"A man I was stationed with took his jacket off and put the fire on me out," recalled Grandison, 43, who now lives in Fort Lee, Va.
She remained hospitalized for 30 days after the accident and spent another month in recovery. In the next four years, she underwent 13 reconstructive surgeries.
If it were not for the aid and the courage of her fellow soldier, Grandison knows her injuries would have been much worse, and possibly deadly.
Now, Grandison has a chance to pay it forward.
On Valentine's Day, she will donate a kidney to her niece, Kimberly Pinkney, a 32-year-old Pensacola resident and certified nursing assistant at Specialty Center of Pensacola.
Where others might describe fear of invasive surgery or parting with an organ, Grandison exhibits a modest excitement when she's asked to think about what she'll do in the coming weeks.
"I'm excited to be blessed enough to do it," she said. "A lot of people who want to do it can't do it."
Life-Changing News
Pinkney never dreamed her doctor's visit last February would amount to much.
Having had high blood pressure for most of her life, she thought she'd be checked out, given medication and sent her on her way.
They took her blood. They performed tests. She waited.
The news wasn't good.
A doctor told her that her kidneys had failed. She was rushed to the emergency room.
"My life changed in one day," she said.
The next day, she started nightly dialysis treatment to keep her alive.
Pinkney remained hospitalized for weeks before returning to what was her new normal life.
In August, she visited the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center to begin her quest for a kidney transplant. Doctors told her to make a list of potential family members who might be willing to donate.
"It was a very scary thing," said Pinkney's mother, Beverly Johnson. "Why did this have to happen to her?"
Finding A Match
Many of Pinkney's family members suffer from ailments that would rule them out as potential donors.
So, despite the willingness of many of them, Pinkney thought it would be hard to find someone fit enough to give up a kidney.
Grandison, who received a medical discharge from the U.S. Army in 2000, now works as a military contractor teaching new soldiers cooking skills.
When asked to consider donating, she didn't hesitate.
Much like the soldier who offered up his jacket to stamp out the fire that burned her, she understood that an unselfish act can preserve life.
"I was only 28 years old when I had my accident, and that was a life-changing experience that was really, really hard," Grandison said. "I don't know a whole lot about dialysis, but I know it's not an easy process to go through. And to be 32 and have to do that the rest of your life, I couldn't see that for her."
Grandison was the first person tested, and she was a match.
"After that, there was no need to test anyone else," Pinkney said. "It was unreal to me. I'm still, I can't believe it."
Pillar Of Strength
Grandison and Pinkney have been close for years.
The young niece calls her aunt the strong center of her family. She remembers a childhood of sleep-overs at her house.
She also remembers the horrific injuries and the pain her aunt endured after the accident.
Pinkney was a 17-year-old Pensacola High School student when the explosion occurred.
"I remember when she came home and she was at my grandma's house," Pinkney said. "I remember she didn't have any skin. It didn't look like her. My little cousin was scared of her, but she was the one telling everybody not to worry."
Last August, Pinkney knew she could turn to her aunt.
"When something's going on, she can fix it," Pinkney said. "It's not surprising to us that she would be the one to do this for me. She didn't think twice about it. She was like, 'What do I need to do to find out if I'm a match?' "
On Valentine's Day, Grandison and Pinkney will travel to Birmingham for the transplant.
While recovery won't be easy, Pinkney said she will look to her aunt for inspiration and a feeling that everything will be OK.
"For everything that she's been through, it's a blessing," Pinkney said. "Somebody saved her so she could be here to save me."
No comments:
Post a Comment