Jamaican Firefighter Travels to Miami to Receive Treatment for Severe Burn Injuries
Last August, firefighter Tennyson “Mackie” McFarlane was responding to a routine house fire in Kingston, Jamaica when a propane tank exploded inside the structure. McFarlane suffered severe burns to his hands and face.
The 37-year-old firefighter underwent 12 surgeries over six months. Doctors in Kingston provided the best care available to them, but resources were limited. Clinicians lacked the specializations needed to treat burns, and to provide occupational therapy.
“I was told I was at risk of losing my fingers,” McFarlane recalls. “They also told me I could never go back to work.”
Fate took a turn for the better when a despondent McFarlane met retired Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Captain Natosha Gonzales and Lieutenant Kevin McCrea, a burned firefighter himself.
Gonzales had traveled to Jamaica to recruit firefighters to train in the United States. She often met firefighters who had been injured, but on this trip it was McFarlane, a husband and father, who immediately had an impact on her. Gonzales gave him hope that he could recover, and helped restore his confidence that he’d one day return to the job he loved so much.
“When I met Mackie, I immediately wanted him to receive advanced care to recover quickly in Miami,” Gonzales said.
The best place for him to receive burn care was at one of the leading burn treatment facilities in the nation. The UM/JM Burn Center, housed at Ryder Trauma Center, is a noted facility where a team of highly specialized UHealth-University of Miami Health System burn surgeons, Jackson nurses, and rehabilitation therapists could help him recover.
McFarlane made the sacrifice to leave his home, wife, and 2-year-old daughter to seek treatment at the burn center with the help of Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue and the Miami-Dade Firefighter Union Local 1403. Gonzales also provided him a place to live and continues to raise money to assist with his medical expenses.
McFarlane has been receiving regular occupational therapy at the burn center with therapist Angel Alvarez. Within weeks, the therapist noticed that McFarlane was making tremendous strides, especially in the ability to move his hands.
“When he first got here, he couldn’t tie his shoes, he couldn’t feed himself or use the restroom on his own,” Alvarez said. “He still has a long way to go, but he is now doing all the above.”
Besides additional therapy and facial surgery, McFarlane still requires several surgical skin grafts to his hands to allow him more mobility, to be performed by UHealth, University of Miami Health System orthopedic surgeon Patrick Owens, MD.
“Doctors here at UM/Jackson have assured me that I will be able to go back to work,” McFarlane said. “I am looking forward to regaining the quality of life I had before.”