Out of the Fire
‘The doctor explained that she needed to sedate Connor. They’d already told us he was unlikely to pull through, but they wanted to put him into a medically induced coma, to at least give his body a chance. They were trying to intubate him but he was far too distressed. “Mam!’ he was screaming, ‘I need a drink, mam! Please tell them! Mam, I really, really need a DRINK!’
I felt my legs give beneath me as the drugs began to work. Were those to be the last words my baby ever spoke? Was my precious son dying before my eyes?’
For Carol Rowntree, Sunday the 17th of May 2009 was going to be a day like any other. And then came the phone call from her daughter, Leeanne, and the sort of news every mother dreads. Her 15 year old son, Connor, had been accidentally set alight, and was burned almost beyond recognition. The grave extent of his injuries soon became clear. He had full thickness burns to 90% of his body, and no-one expected him to make it through the night.
Out of the Fire is Carol’s candid and heart-rending story, which begins with the living nightmare of seeing her child’s life hanging by a thread and not daring to hope he’ll survive. It then follows his progress through almost a year in a specialist burns unit, during which he will make many terrifying trips back to Intensive Care, as the wide-ranging effects of his horrendous injuries cause almost every organ in his body to be compromised. He manages to defy death on a host of occasions; his kidneys both fail, his left lung collapses, and he clings on to life through countless life-threatening infections. He undergoes over 100 operations, and endures pain the like of which most of us will thankfully never know.
For Carol and her family it is a year like no other, a year in which their strength, belief and courage will be tested, and the emotional toll will be huge. But as the months pass, and Connor continues to defy the damning odds, a kernel of hope begins to grow in their hearts. They’ve always trusted the skill and dedication of the professionals who take care of him, but when Connor his first faltering steps, in late December, it really does feel like he’s a walking miracle.
Connor is finally able to go home eleven and a half months later, and is discharged on April 22nd, a survivor.
Afterword by Carol Rowntree
If you told me three years ago that in the summer of 2012 my son would be carrying an Olympic Torch I probably would have laughed out loud. The whole notion would have been just too incredible. He’s a lovely lad, of course he is, but, well – I’m no different from any other mother, I suppose. ‘He’s just my Connor,’ I’d have thought. ‘An ordinary boy.’
But of course, he’s not. He’s gone through something no one would wish on their worst enemy, but as a result of how courageously he’s dealt with all that’s happened, he really has become someone worthy of that honour, and I – and the rest of the family – couldn’t be prouder.
Now he has settled back into everyday life, Connor has become more like his old self. He was and still is a good looking and popular lad. He still has to go to the hospital regularly for physio and has to be constantly creamed and massaged from head to foot. He’s also undergone an endless round of follow up operations, which are painful, but he never complains.
He still has to face the stares in the street but he just ignores them. Every mother is proud of their child but the way Connor has handled everything has been unbelievable. Most important to Connor, though, is that he is now hoping to make a career for himself in the fire service, and has resumed the sport that he loves and is once again excelling at – Go Karting
2009 May have been the worst possible year imaginable, but from the minute we brought Connor home in 2010, our lives as a family couldn’t have been more rewarding. Connor has grown so much as a person as a result of what he’s been through, and I couldn’t be more thrilled at the awards he’s won and the incredible experiences he has been lucky to have since. He has met Princes and Politicians, Pop Stars and DJs, and been to so many places and met so many inspiring people. Right now, as a thank you to everyone who took such care of him, he is determined not just to live his life to the full but to help others, by giving something back.
To that end we have set up the Connor Rowntree Foundation, and one of our main aims is to take Connor’s story, and get it out there – along, of course, with Connor himself. That way, other young people can see first hand why it’s so dangerous to play with fire. Called Fighting Fire With Fire, and in conjunction with the Fire Service, it’s already being rolled out nationwide.
Book Author
I was born in Musselburgh on the East Coast of Scotland, the middle child to Anne and Eddie Doran. My dad was a bricklayer and moved us to Milton Keynes - where he was working at the time - when I was 11. I met my husband Neil there, but he was from the North East, so we moved back to Washington, Tyne and Wear in 1991. We have three daughters; Leeanne 27, Jodie 25 and Ceri 23, and last but not least we have Connor, the baby of the family, who is now 16. We also have three gorgeous grandsons, Ayden 6, Corey 5 and Layton 3.
We are a very close family and still do most things together. ...
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