By Liana Jacob
THIS BURNS SURVIVOR beat the insecurities that made her consider suicide and instead found love and happiness with a boyfriend who calls her beautiful.
Stylist, Heather Schindler (28), from Wisconsin, USA, was only five years old when she experienced the most traumatic moment of her life.
On January 21, 1995, Heather asked her mother if she could play outside with their dog. She went to a brown building where her family stored most of their belongings.
She took a coffee cannister that was full of gas to the fire outside of the building, when the gas left the canister, the wind picked up and in an instant, her body was on fire from head to toe.
âI ran back to the house completely on fire and started banging on the door,â she said.
âIt felt like a week before someone answered, and I heard a horrifying scream coming from my mum; my family put me out, took off my burnt clothes and wrapped me in a towel.
âI was terrified. As a kid when something like this happens, you donât know what youâre in for and you donât know the consequences of your actions yet.
âThey called my grandpa who lives only a mile from us, then after they called 911 he gets there, puts me in his car and I turn to my mum and ask: âMum, am I going to die?â She said no but I could tell in her voice that she wasnât sure.
âWe meet up with the ambulance halfway to the hospital and they put me inside. I ask for my teddy bear and thatâs the last thing I remember until I wake up and see that Iâm being put into a helicopter where a man asks if Iâm OK.
âMy surgery was eighteen hours long and I had over three-thousand stitches in my body, five-hundred staples in my back and four bolts in my head.â
However, Heatherâs ordeal was far from over as her affected body caused her to develop severe body anxieties and she became subject to bullying.
âIf Iâm being honest, it sucked to grow up as a burn survivor,â she said.
âFirst, because people would rather stare at you thinking itâs less rude than just asking what happened.
âSecond, I was made fun of by strangers which hurt even more. Three, I had the worst self-esteem and cried myself to sleep most nights.
âI had to miss a lot of school for surgeries and because I was easily sick.
âI have been asked if my lips hurt, if I was dressed up for Halloween, and if Iâm Freddie Kruegerâs daughter.
âWith everything that happened, I considered suicide as an option just to get away from everything and everyone and there were times I wished I would have died in the fire because I hated how I looked and felt about myself.â
She was introduced to her current boyfriend by one of her roommates during college, who helped her see the beauty in herself.
âWe initially met over texting, then on July 2009, we met in person for the first time when he picked me up at the airport,â Heather said.
âSince then we have been together. After three-weeks of dating, he accompanied me to my first surgery. He was incredible during this time.
âMy lips were swollen, and I was all stitched up, but he took care of me and always told me I was beautiful.
âNo matter what I look like; before, during and after, he always tells me I am sexy and beautiful and trust me there are times I didnât look or feel beautiful.
âHe has helped me grow as a person and made me grow to love myself, not just inside but my body as well.
âWhen someone is rude about the way I look, he gets frustrated because, like me, he doesnât understand why people donât have a filter when it comes to talking to other people.â
While she attended counselling sessions, she says that she has mostly had to overcome her mental scars herself.
âThat was the hardest part, dealing with it on my own. I wish I asked for help, but I slowly started to view myself in a different light and now I am stronger than ever,â Heather said.
âThe hardest part was learning to accept everything that happened, taking responsibility for what I did and to forgive myself for everything, then learning how to let it all go. Which I have.
âI canât forget what happened, but I can let go of what I have done and not let what has happened affect my future.
âThere are people who say I am beautiful, strong and an inspiration. Then there are those who just want to know what happened, so I tell them.
âMy advice is to forgive. No matter if it was your fault or someone elseâs. Just forgive what has happened.
âTell yourself every day that you are strong, beautiful or handsome and that you are a survivor â not a victim.
âWe burn survivors were re-born to do something great no matter if that greatness is small or huge.â
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