Keith Sidebotham doesn’t remember a time before his burns, and he doesn’t want to.
The 32-year-old North Vancouver resident is candid when he tells his story.
“I was two years old when I got burned,” he tells the North Shore News.
“My mom put me down for a nap in the afternoon, not aware that I was able to crawl out of my crib at that time, and I crawled out of my crib and went down a couple flights of stairs. She had just poured a hot tea. ...”
After the two-year-old Sidebotham grabbed at the boiling hot beverage, spilling it all over himself, he was rushed to hospital. Suffering from third-degree burns, he describes his skin as starting to peel off before doctors could properly treat the wound, wrap him up, and start the healing process.
“I did get lucky in the sense that I only ended up scarring really on my shoulder and on my chest,” he says. “It used to be very, very pronounced – it was very thick and very visible – but over 30 years, it’s now gotten to the point where for me, it’s really thin and really smooth.”
Sidebotham adds that when he meets new people many aren’t even aware that he’s a burn survivor due to how well his scars have healed over the ensuing decades. But even where scars have faded, he still holds his experience closely.
As a teenager, he says, he became more involved in what he dubs the burn community – others who are also burn survivors – and now aims to share his story and spread the word about the Burn Fund and Hometown Heroes Lottery.
The Burn Fund is a charity established in 1978 by the BC Professional Fire Fighters Association that provides life-saving and life-enriching services to burn survivors.
The Burn Fund’s annual Hometown Heroes Lottery raises funds for specialized adult health services, and also supports programs such as the Burn Camp for youth survivors, the latter of which Sidebotham knows well.
“My burns have taken me to many different experiences through camps, through meeting tons of new people, and tons of great people. I wouldn’t trade it for what I have,” he says. “You get teased, you deal with that growing up, it’s an unfortunate side effect of being a kid and being different. ... I moved to B.C. because one of my best friends is from the Burn Camp I was from in Ontario.”
Sidebotham gives a shout out to all the Burn Fund has done for him over the years, adding that “there’s so much support out here” and “everyone is just absolutely wonderful.”
But he’s most adamant when it comes explaining how being a burn survivor leaves nothing to be ashamed of, even if today’s body-conscious society might make people feel otherwise.
“I don’t want (my scars) to fade away, to be honest with you,” he says. “From as long as I can remember it’s been a part of who I am. ... For me, it’s just the way of life and it’s normal.”
Ticket sales for the Hometown Heroes Lottery run until July 12, with more than 3,000 available prizes up for grabs. Tickets can be purchased by visiting heroeslottery.com.
