From: Joe@smokefree.org
Date: Sat, 12/20/03
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To write in support of fire-safe cigarette standards, go to
www.smokefree.net/fire
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Randy Daniels Fiddles While Baby Burns
It's been two and a half years since New York passed fire-safe cigarette
legislation. To be implemented, however, the law requires Secretary of State
Randy Daniels to issue fire-safe standards. While Daniels delays, a series of
fatal cigarette-caused fires have occurred. The following story describes the
plight of a family whose baby was severely burned in a recent cigarette-caused
fire.
Parts excerpted from the Post-Standard, 12/14/03
Jesse William Corless is in a steel crib surrounded by a germ-fighting plastic
bubble. "It's like a warm, sunny day inside where he is," says his mother,
Julie Dreswick.
Sedatives keep the 4-month-old motionless and pain-free.
Mesh gauze encircles his swollen body, covering the life-threatening burns on
his right hand, arm and ear and the right side of his face and chest.
"You can see his lip," says his father, Joe Corless, "and a little of his nose."
More than 35 percent of Jesse's skin was scorched when the mattress he was
sleeping on in the family's Syracuse apartment caught fire Dec. 4.
Fire investigators said the cause of the fire was a smoldering cigarette in the
next room.
The catastrophe has left Joe and Julie dazed.
They are homeless. They are broke.
They are uncertain whether their younger son will survive. If he does, he faces
a lifetime of medical care, disfigurement, pain and emotional distress.
Their one relief is that Jesse was admitted to a 30-bed burn unit exclusively
for children. It is one of the world's best, and the care is free. Recognizing
that family plays a big role in a child's recovery, the hospital is giving Julie
and Joe free food and shelter there, too.
What worries the two parents is what they'll do after Jesse is released.
"I'll start wondering where we're going to live when we get out of here, and
I'll start to get freaked out, and (Joe) will say, 'Let's not think about that
yet,' " Julie says. "Then he'll say, 'How are we going to make enough money, . .
.' and I'll say, 'Don't think about it.' We slow each other down."
We have to skip Christmas together this year, Julie tells the kids. We'll make
it up.
Late at night, she wanders the hospital halls, bumping into other sleepless,
shellshocked parents.
The hospital does its best to soothe, with colorful murals, lavish play areas,
programs to help parents and siblings, and state-of-the-art burn technology.
All treatment is 100 percent covered by the Shriners of North America, a social
and charitable organization known for its red fez hats.
On the sixth day after the fire, Jesse's doctor lessens the sedatives keeping
him motionless.
Donning double gloves that stretch up to her shoulder, Julie slips her hand
between the plastic curtains. She gently touches her baby's uninjured left hand.
He wiggles his fingers.
"This is joyous," she says. "That's a big step for us. It's like, these little
things, they really count."
It's the first time she has seen Jesse move since the night before the fire,
when she fed him a bottle, kissed him, and sang him back to sleep. She was at
work when the fire started.
Survival, Dr. Rob Sheridan tells Joe and Julie, is still a serious issue for
Jesse.
Infection is a big threat. The burns are straining Jesse's heart, kidneys and
lungs - and his lungs were damaged from inhaling smoke. He has an I.V., a
catheter in his bladder, a tube to help him breathe, and a feeding tube.
Surgeries removed some of his burned skin, and live skin from a deceased donor
was grafted onto his stomach. He will need many more surgeries, Sheridan says.
When Jesse's nurses change his bandages, Julie sees how the baby's heart rate
jumps on the monitor.
She wishes she could sneak in when no one is looking and press his little body
to her chest. Instead she teases, "I'm gonna getcha," tickles the plastic
bubble, and makes smooching noises. It always made Jesse laugh.
Later that day, suffering from a raging headache, Julie holes up in her guest
suite at the hospital.
Despite the seriousness of Jesse's injuries, Joe pictures him surviving and
growing up. He'd like to see him become a mechanic someday, or maybe graduate
from college.
"That'd be cool," he says quietly.
To write in support of fire-safe cigarette standards, go to
www.smokefree.net/fire
To read hundreds of recent news stories about cigarette-cause fires, go to
http://www.tobacco.org/articles/category/fires/
Joseph W. Cherner
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the
world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
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