Frank Wolinski says the horrifying moment that changed his life forever is not fully etched in his memory.
“It all happened so fast,” recalling exactly how he was accidentally doused in flames by his son-in-law is impossible.
“When Rob threw the fire, I just saw this stream of gas and it just (went) ‘boom’. It was just so fast. I just couldn’t handle it. Then I was running around on fire.” Said Wolinski from his Winnipeg apartment on Wednesday.
The 61-year-old suffered burns to more than half his body after a bonfire in a St. Boniface backyard erupted into an inferno on March 21. Wolinski’s son-in-law was attempting to ignite the flames more quickly. A sudden flash sent the man reeling back, accidentally tossing flaming gas on Wolinski.
“It is a regret using gas, but I’m not blaming anybody for it,” said Wolinski.
Firefighters responded and paramedics rushed Wolinski to hospital where a doctor told the family that Frank was unlikely to pull through.
“A doctor said he might be less than a five per cent survival rate and asked if there are any other children you have or anyone else you want to contact to come say your goodbyes,” said Rebecca Wiens, Wolinski’s daughter.
Wolinski was in hospital for roughly three months, two of which were spent in a coma. Throughout that time, Wolinski underwent two skin graphs: One moving flesh from his legs to his torso, the other using skin from cadavers for his face and back.
He also dealt with various skin infections, lung disease, and pneumonia.
Nearly six months later, the father of four and grandfather of eleven has made great strides on the road to recovery, but he still has a long way to go.
Scars cover nearly all of Wolinski’s upper body. The tattoos on his forearms are partially melted away. He has difficulty making any movement.
Wolinski said the worst part is not being able to play with and hold his grandchildren.
“I can’t pick ‘em up, I can’t play with ‘em. That hurts. That hurts a lot.”
Wolinski spends roughly 18 hours per day asleep. The rest of the time he’s looked after by his wife of 31 years, Barbara, who drives him to physiotherapy appointments at the hospital, feeds him, and rubs soothing cream on his burns to keep them drying out.
“We used to be together doing things a lot but now…everything’s changed. We don’t go anywhere.” Said Barbara Wolinski.
“I have my days where I cry, and there are days where we cry together. I get my strength from God and I pray a lot and from my children, they help me when I’m down, they pick me up, when they’re down I pick them up. It just seems to work. And Frank too, he picks me up when I’m crying when it should be him (crying). How amazing is that?”
Wolinski is still about two years away from a full recovery, one he hopes will see him walking, driving, and fishing again someday.
He hopes speaking out about the incident for the first time Wednesday, and showing his scars, that it will make people think twice about how they start a fire.
Before the tragic incident, the Wolinskis used gasoline to help stoke backyard fires on a regular basis. They have no plans to start a fire, let alone one with flammable liquid, ever again.
“It’s brought us closer, but I don’t know if we’ll ever have another BBQ”
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