It’s been almost a year since the Marlow family’s life was changed forever and their son Trey was in a car accident that almost killed him.
“Officers came here — every parent’s worst nightmare you know,” said Andy Marlow, Trey’s Father.
“You just go into action and they just told us to hurry up because I think the officers thought Trey wouldn’t make it.”
Trey’s parents, Tina and Andy Marlow rushed to Kelowna General hospital to find Trey fighting for his life. He had driven off an embankment and was thrown from his car. It caught fire from spilled fuel.
“We saw Trey, he was still smoking from being on fire. You could smell it, and there was actually smoke coming off of him,” said Andy.
Trey was put into an induced coma and flown to Vancouver General Hospital. Tina and Andy drove to Vancouver to meet him there.
“The doctors knew he had a brain injury…they didn’t know if he broke his back because he was thrown from his vehicle. He had a broken collar bone, ruptured spleen, ruptured liver, burned on 30 per cent of his body,” said Andy.
“They were concerned with his leg. They thought he might have broken his leg but he was cleared from that. But it was a roller coaster ride for me and Tina because you would get good news and then bad news.”
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The parents were able to navigate the ups and downs with the help of the BC Professional Firefighters’ Burn Fund. They were given a place to stay at the Burn Fund Centre that is located close to the hospital where families can stay for as long as they need to for a minimal fee.
“It was a lifesaver for us,” said Tina.
“Financially it would have been a nightmare. When you are in a traumatic experience you can’t think fully. You are just living minute by minute and hour by hour. It was so nice not to have to worry about any of that.”
Almost a year later, Trey is recovering and will be staying at the Burn Fund Centre for upcoming surgeries to cover a patch on his head and amputate his pinky finger, which isn’t healing properly.
“Things are going really good, it’s definitely a lot to get used to and I have finally hit the realization that this is something for life so I just need to find new methods to do certain things because of my missing fingers,” said Trey.
To continue supporting families like the Marlow’s the BC Professional Firefighters’ Burn Fund continues to raise money. Right now donors can buy tickets for their Hometown Heroes Lottery.
“Just by buying tickets, you can win great prizes and support trauma centres, research, as well as the burn fund and all the programs that we support,” said Gayanne Pacholzuk Prevention Coordinator with the BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund.
For information about how you can support the burn fund visit and to www.burnfund.org buy tickets visit www.heroeslottery.com