Regina lived out her worse nightmare on the night of January, 8 2015.
She awoke to a smoke alarm sounding, heavy smoke and her home engulfed in fire that had an electrical origin. She and her husband, Chuck, escaped the burning home by crawling through the thick smoke. Chuck saved her life as he guided her through the home and she clutched his ankle.
Sadly, when Chuck went back into the burning home to save their 2 Yorkie fur babies, he did not return.
Regina was severely burned as she ran back into the home twice to find her husband who had perished from his injuries inside the burning home.
Three weeks after the fire, she woke up in the hospital from severe burn injuries in critical condition. It was then she learned she’d lost everything- her husband, her two dogs and her home.
Regina had second, third and fourth degree burns on large portions of her body and a serious inhalation injury. She was given a 10% chance of survival, but recovered after multiple surgeries and 40 days in a Missouri hospital.
Her mother retired early to care for her and it took a year for her to wrap her head around her profound tragedy, grief and seek counseling.
“I was diagnosed with PTSD, depression, and anxiety. I went through EMDR therapy to unlock the memories of the accident, as well as Exposure Therapy because I simply didn’t want to be scared for the rest of my life,” Regina Landry said. “Each of those is extremely difficult to go through emotionally, as well as physically, but well worth the effort and outcome.”
Through the physical and emotional process of healing from the injury, the most difficult part, by far, is the loss of her husband: Chuck Landry.
“I miss him every day.”
Regina enjoys volunteering at the burn unit where she healed-Mercy Hospital Burn Unit in Springfield, MO, at Burns Recovered Peer Support Group and their children’s burn camp.
While 70 percent of her body is scarred from burn scars, grafts, and donor sites, she wears them uncovered.
“It was definitely weird for me at first when I went out in public in normal clothing that showed my scars. But I believe that self-confidence and positive attitude have a lot to do with how other “normal skinned people” see me, as well as other burn survivors,” she said. “My scars are simply part of me, and not something that I’m ashamed of.”
