A large scar shaped like the continent of South America will always exist on Oscar Knowles-Dekkers’ chest, reminding him of an event he does not remember. At the age of 10 months, Oscar knocked a cup of hot water onto himself, causing third-degree burns and two years’ worth of hospital visits. Through the trauma of this experience, Oscar’s parents were blown away by the support of their fellow islanders: there was a benefit concert at Cates Hill Chapel, friends would offer to help take care of the other kids, people made food, people cleaned the house. Of course Oscar, now nine years old, doesn’t remember any of this, but he understands how important the spirit of generosity was to his family, and now he’s raising money to help other families going through the same experience.
Because of the support the Knowles-Dekkers family recieved from the community, they never had to ask for help from the BC Professional Firefighters Burn Fund.
“The firefighters and the nurses who work with burn patients know how incredibly traumatic this experience can be, and that the stress of trying to cope is not conducive to healing,” says Sam Knowles, Oscar’s mother. “You don’t plan for these things, they just happen, but it is a huge expense and you just have to deal with it.”
The fund helps families travelling back and forth continuously for hospital visits pay for their trips and accommodations; it helps cover the cost of pressure suits, very tight (and very expensive) pieces of clothing that need to be worn constantly and replaced every three months; it also supports young burn survivors, by sending them to a camp where they can get to know kids who have had similar experiences and just have a great time.
This year, upon his return from Burn Camp, Oscar decided he wanted to raise money to support the fund’s latest initiative: the building of a “home away from home” for burn patients and their families.
“My mum slept in the room with me on the Burn Unit at Children’s Hospital for a week, but my dad and brothers had to travel home every time they came in to Vancouver,” says Oscar. “Living on Bowen they could manage this. For other families that live farther away, this must be really hard.”
The Burn Centre will be located between the BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn, Trauma and Plastics Unit at Vancouver General Hospital and BC Children’s Hospital. The building has a total budget of $13.1 million.
Oscar started his fundraising campaign by collecting bottles, but says the process seemed too slow. He then came up with the idea of selling boxes of kindling, and went to the library to ask if he could take the old shingles from the roof.
“The guys working on the roof remembered when Oscar got burned, and said yes right away,” says Sam.
Now, every day Oscar and his brother Milo spend an hour or so chopping shingles and putting the pieces together as kindling boxes that they will sell for $30 each, with all proceeds going directly towards the burn fund.
Oscar says that originally, he hoped to raise $3000 for his cause. However, he has reconsidered and decided to raise the bar and aim to fundraise $5,000 for the Burn Fund.
If you are interesting buying a box of kindling, contact Oscar at 604-947-2709.
