BURN PATIENTS SHARE THEIR STORIES OF SURVIVAL

Burn survivors Michael Brewer, Cooper Grecco and Feride Buch; Valerie Brewer, Michael Brewer’s mother;  David Downey, Assistant Chief of Operations David Downey, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue; Carlos A. Migoya, President & CEO of Jackson Health System; Steven Falcone, M.D., Chief Executive of the University of Miami at Jackson Memorial Hospital; Nicholas Namias, M.D., M.B.A., FACS, FCCM, Trauma Surgeon and Co-Director of Ryder Trauma Center; Louis Pizano, M.D., M.B.A., Trauma Surgeon and Medical Director of UM/JM Burn Center; Carl Schulman M.D. Ph.D., MSPH, FACS, Trauma Surgeon and Director of the William Lehman Injury Research Center; Armando Fernandez and Manny J. Rodriguez of Florida Power & Light Company, long-time corporate supporter of the Um/JM Burn Center at Ryder.

The UM/JM Burn Center at Ryder Trauma Center has been saving the lives of children and adults who have suffered severe burns for decades. As part of Ryder Trauma Center’s 20th anniversary celebration, burn survivors will reunite and give thanks to the doctors and nurses who saved their lives. 
 
In October 2009, Michael Brewer was doused with rubbing alcohol and set on fire by his classmates. With burns over two thirds of his body, Michael, then 16, was transferred from a Broward County hospital to the UM/JM Burn Center at Ryder. For five weeks, Michael was in a medically-induced coma. He spent three months at Ryder, where he underwent several procedures. He is now looking forward to his senior year of high school.

In May 2005, Cooper Grecco was driving home when her car got a flat tire. As she was pulling over to the side of the interstate, another car slammed into hers. The impact cracked her gas tank and the car burst into flames before Cooper could escape. Cooper, then a 17-year-old high school junior, suffered burns over more than 60 percent of her body, including her face, arms and legs. She was brought to the burn center, where doctors placed her in a medically-induced coma for more than a month. Since then, Cooper has undergone 78 procedures. She lived with a tracheostomy for three years, which allowed her to breathe, until she had reconstructive surgery of her trachea.

In 1995, Feride Buch was walking on the beach when she stepped on a piece of glass that cut her foot. She rushed home to clean the cut with rubbing alcohol. She accidentally spilled the flammable liquid on her hair, shower curtain and towel, but didn’t think much of it. Before jumping in the shower, Feride lit a cigarette, and the bathroom burst into flames. Her hair, shower curtain and towels caught on fire. Feride suffered severe burns to 80 percent of her body. She was rushed to the UM/JM Burn Center. Feride underwent more than 40 skin grafts and several reconstructive surgeries. She now lives in Fort Myers and is married with two children.
 
The event will also feature the smoke house from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, a mobile trailer equipped with a smoke machine to simulate a real fire. There will also be a burn safety and prevention demonstration.

18, 2012, 9:30 a.m.- 11:00 a.m.

Ryder Trauma Center
1800 N.W. 10th Avenue
Miami, FL 33136

As part of Ryder Trauma Center’s 20th anniversary celebration, burn survivors will reunite and give thanks to the doctors and nurses who saved their lives. 

*Media can park in the media lot outside of Ryder.