DANA VULIN: ‘I’M GIVING BACK TO BURNS SURVIVORS’
NEARLY 10 YEARS AFTER BEING HORRIFICALLY BURNT ALIVE, DANA HAS FOUND HER CALLING
In the early hours of February 16, 2012, Dana Vulin gently floated off to sleep in her suburban Perth apartment, without an inkling of the horror that would jolt her awake.
Under the cover of darkness, a strange man and an incensed woman – who had the misguided idea that the stunning marketing strategist was sleeping with her exhusband – would break into Dana’s home and set her on fire, before laughing and fleeing the scene. With burns to nearly 65 per cent of Dana’s body, the consequences of those actions were beyond tragic. It would be the last time that Dana, then 25, would sleep at home for four years and 10 months while she recovered, and the last time she’d work for nearly a decade.
Now, she has rebuilt her life and plans on giving back by offering free treatments to burns victims at her new business, I Am D Aesthetics.
Meanwhile her perpetrator, Natalie Dimitrovska, a mother of one who was nabbed in disguise at Perth Airport trying to leave Australia following the attack, is currently more than halfway through a 17-year jail stint.
“I made a pledge to myself during the months and years I spent in hospital,” says Dana, now 35. She reluctantly uses the word ‘desperate’ to describe herself at the time.
“I prayed, ‘God give me the strength to get out of this and I promise to do good, to give more, to do better, and be a better person.’”
After three years trapped in a compression mask, Dana revealed the face that would get her through the rest of her life. She received messages of support from around the world and felt a great responsibility to the needy who were reaching out. She understood the desperation.
“My business, I Am D Aesthetics, is now founded on this responsibility I feel to other survivors,” beams Dana, who has finally returned to work this month as a cosmetic and disfigurement specialist, just short of the 10-year anniversary of that shocking night back in 2012.
“I was also inspired by the hospital system, where I developed a great respect for nurses. This led me to study a Master of Nursing and eventually identify my niche in burns recovery. I have the academic qualifications, but because of my real-life experiences, I have great compassion for people’s vulnerabilities and insecurities.
“It is stuff that can’t be taught in books. I understand scars and how they track, how deep they go, how they mature and when they need lasering, needling, steroids and pigment.”
The driven survivor says she can’t wait to offer her services for free to fellow survivors at the annual Burns Forum – a closed collective of burns survivors and their families who meet yearly for support. Dana is a committed group member who has been a beacon of hope for many over the years.
“Some burns survivors don’t have nipples, others don’t have eyebrows and eyelashes,” says Dana, who can colour scars to match surrounding skin. “I’m so excited to give help and hope to all of these people. But even after 10 years out of the workforce, it doesn’t feel like work.”