SANDY — Severe burns can leave someone facing a mountain of physical, psychological and emotional trauma, but a program run by University of Utah Health’s Burn Center is helping burn survivors to literally climb their way above it all.
A survivor's personal story
16-year-old Atticus Jones-Wahlquist said the burns he received at the age of two took an incredible toll on many aspects of his life.
“It was a gasoline fire from my lawnmower at my grandma’s house,” Jones-Wahlquist said during an interview with KSL. “It spread all over me, caught fire.”
In addition to the physical scars on his face and chest, Jones-Wahlquist described emotional scarring as well.
“It made me really shy and made me a lot less confident of who I was,” the teen said. “There was a hot while where I struggled with confidence really bad.”
Jones-Wahlquist’s family and recreational therapist Eric Bonin believed the Burn Survivor Climbing Clinic could have positive results.
How the climbing clinic works
Bonin said the six-week clinic, which runs four times per year, brings groups of 10 to 15 burn survivors together, allowing them to express who they are and to work toward goals and improved life skills.
“It can hit a lot of those different domains,” Bonin said. “We use it a lot for emotional well-being, cognitive well-being and then there’s also a huge social aspect as well within the community.”
Overcoming fears through physical challenges
Volunteers and family members are also present to help the burn survivors through the experience.
“We frame it as never failing — there’s always, like, a project you can do,” Bonin said. “There are a lot of parallels between pushing yourself and trying and failing or trying and succeeding to life as well.”
A father's perspective on progress
Jones-Wahlquist’s father, Ammon Wahlquist, acknowledged he was initially apprehensive about the idea of climbing as therapy.
“I didn’t want him to get too frustrated or feel really discouraged if he couldn’t do a climb,” the dad said.
Wahlquist said the results he saw in his son, however, were significant.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, honestly, to watch Atticus kind of go through the healing process of being really little and being burned, but kind of grow up and just … work through the struggles that came with that,” Wahlquist said. “To just work through it and still be positive and the cool kid that he is, it’s been pretty awesome.”
Increased confidence after the program
Jones-Wahlquist, who now plays cornerback for West Jordan High School’s football team, said he had also noticed the changes within himself.
“It made me a lot more confident in who I am as a person,” Jones-Wahlquist said. “There might be a moment that’s really hard, but you can get through it no matter what the situation is.”
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