The Mamingwey Burn Survivor Society held its 20th annual Burn Survivor gathering on October 13 and 14, 2017 at the Canad Inns Polo Park Hotel in Winnipeg. The theme this year was “Turning Tragedy into Hope”.

Seventy-five burn survivors, their family members as well as Burn Unit staff from Manitoba attended this 2-day conference. The atmosphere was very uplifting and had a feeling of a family gathering, as people reconnected with other survivors, family members and hospital staff.

Keynote speaker Heidi Cave opened the conference with her talk, “Turning Tragedy into Hope”. She shared her experiences of being burned in an automobile accident 20 years ago. The car crash resulted in a battle for her life that would involve two weeks in a coma, seven months in the BCPFF Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit at Vancouver General Hospital and an additional five months in rehabilitation. What should have been the darkest chapter of her life became a bright testament to the strength of the human spirit. She is now a mother and motivational speaker. The tragedy of the accident has been turned into a life message of hope. Heidi knows the power of love and courage, and how to impart it to others. Heidi gave a second talk entitled “Recovery Road – The Impact of the Caregiver” where she discussed the many people and aspects of care that assisted her to make a full recovery.

Dr. Jennifer La Force spoke on “Post-Traumatic Growth”, and explained how people who experience a severe injury will often display resilience, and are able to gain a greater awareness of others around them; they live with greater compassion and become more optimistic for the future. This talk helped our audience to understand the myths and realities of post-traumatic growth.

Lisa Forbes, Occupational Therapist and Clinical Specialist working in Burns, led a workshop on “Tool Time: STEPS to Social Comfort and Confidence”. This talk reviewed how to respond to a social interaction when one is being stared at or is asked uncomfortable questions. We heard about “Moving on with Movement”, a talk given by Blake Richison who is the Physiotherapy Clinical Advisor on the Burn Unit. Blake explained the importance of returning to a physically active life following injury and gave many practical tips and suggestions that everyone could relate to.

Three of our local survivors spoke as a panel, discussing their lives after being affected by a burn injury and how they have turned their tragedy into hope. Their struggles and triumphs were told from the heart and many in our audience related to their words and were moved.

Conference attendees participated with each other in several sharing circles, which are considered a most valuable healing experience. Survivors, family and friends of survivors as well as the health care professionals had separate meetings and were able to share their distinct journeys.

The conference closed with a banquet dinner where we were joined by members of the HMCS Chippawa Naval Reserve Band, who generously gave their time to ensure we had some great entertainment and an upbeat atmosphere.

The Mamingwey Burn Survivor Society would like to thank our sponsors: The Firefighters’ Burn Fund Inc., the Health Sciences Centre Foundation, as well as Accurate Fire & Safety, Canad Inns Your Destination Centre Polo Park, the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg Local 867, Century 21 Carrie.com, the United Steelworkers Local 6166 and Marie Alkana for their generous contributions that made this event possible.

The seventh Canadian Burn Survivors Conference was held in Winnipeg from June 15 to 18, 2016, and was hosted by the Mamingwey Burn Survivor Society.

Just over 180 burn survivors, family members, fire fighters and burn unit staff were in attendance. Attendees came from across the country, all the way from Victoria BC to Gander Newfoundland. Our opening reception featured a comedy Improv group and yummy finger food.

Keynote Speaker Justina Page, whose story as a burn survivor is gripping, inspirational and a testament to the power of hope in dark times.

Justina’s life was changed forever when fire swept through her home, March 7, 1999. The loss of her 22-month old twin son, Amos, the severe and lasting injuries of her other twin son, Benjamin, and her own devastating experience of third degree burns covering 55 percent of her body, affected the entire family.

Our second day featured Keynote Speaker Tyler Pelke who spoke about forgiveness. Tyler’s friend Curtis was murdered, while he was sexually assaulted, his throat slit, set on fire and left to die by the same attacker. He shared the compelling story of confronting his attacker in prison and finding peace and purpose in life through his journey of forgiveness and serving others.

Deborah Blaney Ward shared her courageous story of burn recovery and how she found the courage to write a book about her life, and gave very practical tips for others interested in writing their stories.

There were many other presentations by burn survivors on a variety of themes such as “Hope”, “Forgiveness”, “Navigating Online Burn Support” and “Dealing with a Change of Plans”.Click here to change this text

Medical presentations by Dr. Richard Haydey, dermatologist, clinical psychologist Sulaye Thakrar and Dr. Sarvesh Logsetty on the latest in research survivors cope with their physical as well as psychological injuries. Therapist James Bosch and nurse Cindy Rutter led a session about body image and sexuality following a burn injury, a very important topic.

Thursday evening, we were treated to special tours at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which was a highlight for many of our out of town attendees. One attendee stated that “This was incredible and great bonding time for the group.”

There was also a Young Adult program at Adrenaline Adventures where some of the younger burn survivors and a few others shared the physical challenges of a ropes course; they also had time to talk about their journeys as survivors.

The conference ended Saturday evening with a banquet dinner and dancing groups from the Folk Arts Council who offered multi-cultural entertainment; this was followed by an evening of dancing.

Thanks to all who attended in making this conference, entitled “Building a Supportive Community”, a huge success! Hope to see you all again at the next conference in 2018!

For more information, please email barb@hodgefamily.ca

The Mamingwey Burn Survivor Society held its 18th annual Burn Survivor gathering on October 16 and 17, 2015 at the Canad Inns Polo Park Hotel in Winnipeg. The theme this year was “Milestones to Healing”.

133 burn survivors, their family members, Burn Unit staff, and firefighters from Manitoba and beyond attended this 2-day conference. We are very pleased that attendance was up from previous years.

Keynote speaker Dustin Wise opened the conference and shared his experiences of being burned in a cooking accident 9 years ago.
Dustin sustained 3rd degree burns and had to undergo numerous surgeries and years of medical attention. As Dustin’s physical scars began to heal, his mental and emotional scars remained raw. Dustin faced years of self-doubt and lacked self-acceptance of his injury’s non-physical scars. He was able to find healing and hope and promised himself that he would seek to empower other survivors. His story was very inspirational and he emphasized the power of healing through community. He led the group in several exercises to help people understand how far they have come in their own journeys, and offered encouragement to help us mark our own milestones to healing.

Our own Ed Wiebe shared his journey in a talk entitled “Overcoming Obstacles to Healing”. Ed was burned when working as a fire fighter in 2007 and suffered extensive burns to 70% of his body. Ed was able to humbly show how his courage, determination, and hard work have all contributed to allow him to return to work in the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

Denyse Blanco, Occupational Therapist working in child and adolescent mental health, led us all in a workshop on “Assertiveness Training”. We heard about “How to Move Forward when you are Stuck”, a well received session led by Tasha Szczerba and Kris Lischynski, who are Mental Health Consultation Liaison nurses at the Health Sciences Centre. We also had a medical presentation for Burn Unit staff on “The Art of Living Through the Seasons: Being Attuned to the Joys, Challenges and Mystery of Working in the Health Care Profession” by Daniel Barclay, a member of the Spiritual Health Services team at the Health Sciences Centre.

Four of our local survivors spoke as a panel, discussing their “New Normal” lives after being affected by a burn injury, or having a family member suffer a burn injury. Their struggles and triumphs were told from the heart and many in our audience related to their words and were moved.

Survivors were free to share their journeys with each other in several sharing circles, which are considered a most valuable healing experience. Family and friends of the survivors also had a chance to share with each other.

This year we had a special session for an afternoon, the Young Adult Program, which was attended by 7 young people and 2 facilitators. We are hoping to repeat this program next year.

The Mamingwey Burn Survivor Society would like to thank our sponsors: The Firefighters Burn Fund, the HSC Foundation, as well as Manitoba Hydro, Canad Inns, United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg Local 867, the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba, Carter and Sullivan Orthodontics, Dr Greg Stewart of St Anne’s Road Chiropractic, Kromar Printing, the United Steelworkers Local 6166 and Marie Alkana for their generous contributions that made this event possible.

We are very excited that we have been selected to host the next Canadian Burn Survivors Conference. This important event will take place at the Delta Winnipeg hotel from June 15 to 18, 2016. For more information, please email chair-person Barbara-Anne Hodge at barb@hodgefamily.ca or visit our website at www.mamingwey.ca or go to the Canadian Burn Survivors website at canadianburnsurvivors.ca