PHOENIX – The extreme heat can make everyday activities dangerous, and contact burns are on the rise in the Phoenix area.
A man who suffered third-degree burns is sharing his story again as a cautionary tale.
What we know:
Two years ago, Robert Woolley, 72, fell on rocks outside his Phoenix home and couldn’t get up. What started as a routine check of his pool quickly turned into a fight for his life.
“I got distracted by birds. I tripped on a patio slab and I started to go down,” Woolley said. “I put a hand down to catch myself and I was started by how hot and shocked the rocks were. Reflexively I picked my hand back up and then I went all the way down.”
He said the skin peeled off like an onion, and the skin underneath looked like “raw hamburger.”
Woolley, who suffered third-degree burns on 20% of his body, was able to get to his back door and yell for his wife. He said a voice in his head told him, “if you fall asleep, you’re not gonna wake back up,” which gave him a surge of adrenaline.
Dr. Kevin Foster, Director of Burn Services for the Arizona Burn Center, said whenever temperatures climb, he sees a spike in contact burns.
“Above 105 degrees Fahrenheit, we start seeing problems, and then once we get above 110, we really see big problems,” Foster said.
‘I would’ve died on my back patio’
Woolley, who still has scars, said the fall gave him a new appreciation for life.
“If my wife had not been home, and she wouldn’t had heard me, I would’ve died on my back patio. And I know that,” he said.
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