- That basically the tips of my fingers didn't make it,
and so I have one fingernail left.
Right here on my pinky.
- Ooh, I like it.
- Yeah (laughs).
- Hi.
How's it going you guys?
- (Both) Great.
- How are you? - How's it going for you?
- Good, I'm Daniel.
- I'm Vanessa.
- Good to meet ya.
- Hi, I'm Talbott.
- Good to meet ya, I'm Daniel.
You notice, is there anything different
about my skin or anything that you notice?
- Just a little bit more raised than the average person.
Not that much.
- So, I got burned about two and half years ago on my hands.
- Oh, fire?
- Yep, I was a firefighter,
and so I got burned on my face,
and my arms, and on my legs.
- Did people view you differently in the world?
- I think sometimes they do.
They obviously realize I look a little different.
- Yeah.
- So, they're wondering what happened.
- Well, it also tells the world that you're a hero,
and you help people.
- I appreciate that.
Yeah, that's they way I wish everybody
would look at it as, but...
- That's how I view it.
- I appreciate that a lot.
That means a lot to me.
- Was it like a wildfire?
- Yep, exactly.
It was over in Twisp, Washington.
- I think I might have heard that on the radio or something.
- Yeah, you probably have.
It was like a really...
It was the state's largest wildfire.
- Oh, ever?
- Ever.
- Wow.
- So what happened?
- So, I was working as a wild land firefighter,
and while we were providing
structure protection on the house.
Meaning we were trying to save this house from the fire.
It was advancing.
The winds picked up,
and the temperature's were really warm that day.
And the fire kind of exploded.
And like all the trees started erupting in fire,
and we hopped in our fire engine.
Then we tried to get out of the area,
and we ended up crashing our engine.
Immediately caught fire,
and I had to get out of the truck
and run through it back to safety.
- What happened to the other people?
- So there were three other guys in the fire engine,
and they ended up not making it.
- Oh.
- So, it's been a tough two and a half years.
- Do you feel any guilt that you
didn't help the people or...?
- So, survivors guilt is something
that I experienced like a lot of.
It's been really tough knowing that
even though I was severely burned,
I consider myself really, really lucky in a lot of ways,
because I still get to be here and live life.
You know, I think I have a new found respect for life,
and I appreciate everyday that much more.
Because I realize that truly at any second
your life can be taken from you.
- What was it like being a firefighter?
- It was a lot of fun.
I've always liked a high intense careers.
For me I've always liked the outdoors,
and being a wild land firefighter that's
exactly where you're working.
You're office is essentially the woods.
- What do you work as now?
- So now I haven't been working for about
two and half years now, since I got injured.
So, I'm usually always in surgery.
Actually next week I'm gonna have more surgery.
- What do you get surgery for?
- So when you get burned your skin kind of tightens up,
and it makes it hard to move.
This next surgery, next week,
is gonna be on my face.
They're gonna fix my lower lip,
so it looks a little more normal.
And they're gonna fix my nose
so that it's a little more normal.
- I have a question.
What happened to your hands?
- So my hands, they basically,
I had to climb up an embankment
between probably digging into
the ground to move up the hill.
And then just having the fire and open flame hit my hands.
It just burnt them.
Burnt them bad enough that basically
the tips of my fingers didn't make it.
So the tips of my fingers,
everyone except my pinky,
had to be amputated.
- Oh, so that's why you're missing your fingernails?
- Yep, exactly.
So, I have one fingernail left.
Right here, my pinky.
- Ooh, I like it.
- Yeah (laughs).
So, you can see my arms here.
They're obviously burnt,
and they have this kind of like a
crazy checker pattern on 'em.
- I think that looks cool.
- Don't it?
- Yeah.
- Is that what fire just does to your body?
Does it like do that kind of checkerboardness?
- No, so the checkerboard is from the grafting.
- Do you have medical insurance or like do you pay for that?
- Yeah, kind of.
So since like I injured on the job,
Workers comp is suppose to step in
and help pay for your medical bills and things like that.
But, you know, my medical bills are
probably in the millions of dollars.
Whether you get hurt,
or not hurt,
you're employment is cut off at a certain point.
So even though I was catastrophically injured,
they still cut my employment off.
- That's stupid.
They should've reimbursed you for that.
- Yeah, it was, yeah, it was...
It's tough, but...
- You did a lot to help people, so.
- Tried to yeah.
But hopefully I'll be able to down the road,
I'll be able to give back into maybe
being a police officer again.
That's kind of my goal.
What do you guys wanna do when you grow up?
- I wanna be a dermatologist,
which is a skin doctor.
- Oh, I could use somebody like you.
That'd be perfect.
- Yeah.
- I want to be a paleontologist.
- Oh cool.
- I'm more down to earth, literally.
It was nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you,
and nice to meet you.
- Sorry.
Nice meeting you.
- Nice meeting you guys.
- I hope you become a police officer.
- Thank you, I appreciate that.
- Again flaunt it Talbott.
- Hey, I'm Daniel Lyon.
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