Story by Nanda Nayak and Kalpana Gopalkrishnan

When sophomore Neha Dasari walked into a family friend’s 50th anniversary party, she was unaware that she would end up in the emergency room the next day.

It was the summer of 2015.

Dasari stood, drinking water, while a caterer nearby attempted to light kerosene wax to heat up the food being served. As he lit the flame in his hand, he stumbled and dropped wax onto the floor. Immediately, sparks flew up and landed on Dasari’s face.

“At first, I was scared, because I didn’t know what was happening,” Dasari said. “It all happened so fast.”
Dasari stood still, shocked, while people around her whirled in confusion, trying to react to the situation and make sense of the growing swelling on Dasari’s face. Luckily, several doctors who also attended the party were quick to react, and started treating the wound with pain medication immediately.

“You know when you’re getting waxed? There’s that initial singing, and getting burned just felt like that, but ongoing,” Dasari said. “But then, the doctors told me it was going to be okay, and that it was going to heal, so I felt reassured.”

Though Dasari could feel the pain, she was unsure exactly what had happened. The incident had taken place around 9:00 p.m, and the doctors advised her to wait until the next day to see if she should go to the emergency room. So Dasari returned home, and decided to wait until the next day to check on the burn.
But things hadn’t improved by the next morning— the swelling had nearly doubled in size. So Dasari and her family piled into a car, and visited the doctor’s office.

“The diagnosis was 2nd degree burns, and I was scared because it didn’t sound good,” Dasari said. But after the emergency doctor told her that 2nd degree burns could heal, Dasari felt comforted once again.
But the consequences were slightly disheartening. Because the wound was sensitive to sunlight, Dasari was ordered to stay indoors the whole summer. The week after the incident was FBLA Nationals, but the doctor advised Dasari to miss the event, because attending with so many others increased the potential for infection. And her family had scheduled a cruise for that summer. Dasari came along, but was not allowed off at ports and had to stay on the boat the whole time.

Though others may find it hard to stay positive through such a difficult situation, Dasari has managed to keep a positive attitude and feels grateful for all the encouragement she has received.

“I’m okay because of all the support I have from friends and family, and doctors who keep telling me it’s going to be fine,” Dasari said.

Sophomore Jagruti Kolla frequently visited Dasari throughout the summer, and admits she was worried for Dasari’s health when she saw the burn.

“I was worried because [the burn] looked a little scary,” Kolla said. “I asked her if she was okay and tried to visit her a lot over the summer.”

Dasari is unsure about what will happen in the future concerning the burn. She has already had two injections to prevent the scar tissue from growing, and visits two different hospitals because one of them doesn’t have a burn center. Down the road, Dasari has been advised to consider plastic surgery.

“I’m afraid that it’s going to take longer to heal, and also scared of the possibility of surgery, because it would be a long process, and the recovery process would also be long,” Dasari said. And how does Dasari feel towards the one who caused this whole incident, who’s making her consider surgery, the caterer?

“I’m mad at him, but it wasn’t intentional, and I understand that accidents happen,” Dasari said.

Though Dasari has managed to stay positive throughout the whole experience and forgive the caterer the restaurant he worked at fired him. But she does have one regret.

“I probably shouldn’t have gone to the party,” Dasari said.