Squamish teen shares music as part of her healing process
When Sammy Badger saw the fireball coming for her, she closed her eyes and shut her mouth. That split-second decision may have saved her eyesight and her voice.
Now the Squamish teen, a musician who performs under the name Valor Grey, wants to inspire other burn survivors through a song she just released.
The horrifying accident occurred earlier this year when Grey and some other teens had gathered in Brackendale for a campfire to celebrate the first day of March break.
Grey said campfires are a regular part of life for teens in the area during the cool, wet months, but that night something went wrong.
Grey noticed a teen using an accelerant, so she stepped back about two metres from the fire pit, but it wasn’t far enough for the explosive flames. “I looked up and saw the fire coming toward me,” she recalled.
The accelerant, possibly paint thinner, caused a fireball to leap into the air and engulf her. The teen’s hair, face and clothing went up in flames. In pain and shock, she wasn’t able to stop, drop and roll.
A quick-thinking teen pushed her to the ground and threw sand on her to suffocate the flames. Then he rushed her down an embankment and plunged her into the icy Squamish River. One of the teens removed their flannel shirt, soaked it and wrapped her face.
“Going into the water was the right thing to do,” said Grey.
She was taken by ambulance to Vancouver General Hospital.
Doctors were unable to tell her what the extent of the scarring would be. She had suffered second-, third- and fourth-degree burns.
“I was horrified, but I tried to make myself feel OK with however I would look,” said Badger. “My whole face was bandaged for three weeks. My hair was fried and melted. I had a really awful burn on my face, my ears, my neck.”
With her parents by her side, Badger endured painful “debriding ” every day, a process in which dead tissue is peeled and scraped away in order to give new skin a chance to heal. “I would hold my mom’s hands really tight and listen to music while they did it,” she said.
The 17-year-old had to be medicated with morphine and fentanyl to endure the agonizing pain.
The first refrain for the song, I Am a Phoenix, came to Grey when she was undergoing the excruciating debriding treatments: “I am a phoenix rising from the fire, you tried to push me down but I came back higher,” she sings.
The song is about endurance, survival, hope and renewal. Grey was comforted during her recovery by music therapist Gemma Isaac. Isaac visited on the day of a particularly difficult treatment.
“She sang Part of Your World from the Little Mermaid,” said Grey. As Isaac sang, Grey began to sing the lyrics back to her: “What’s a fire, and why does it burn.”
Although she could barely move her mouth because of the burns, she found her voice.
“It meant so much because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to sing, I thought I had lost my voice.”
Grey recently performed her song at the Music Heals charity event in Pemberton, which raises money to provide music therapy for patients in need. She hopes to study music when she finishes Grade 12 and wants to become a music therapist. Like the Phoenix in her song, Grey recovered well, with minimal scarring on her face. She knows she is lucky, and is committed to speaking out about fire safety.
“If you do have a campfire you have to be so cautious, especially if you are using accelerants. You never know what could happen. This could happen to anyone.”
My whole face was bandaged for three weeks. My hair was fried and melted. I had a really awful burnonmy face, my ears, my neck.