Burn Survivors of New England is committed to supporting, empowering, and building active and engaged lives of burn survivors and their families.
We are honored to share messages, stories, and keepsakes from the burn survivors and families we serve. Their heartfelt words, artwork, and reflections highlight the power of connection, support, and hope in their burn recovery journey.
To: Members of the Board Burn Survivors of New England (BSONE)
From: John & Diane Mansfield
Date: October 28, 2023
Re: Thank you
We would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to the BSONE members of the Board, for the monetary donation to pay for three nights hotel stay at the Gaylord Resort and Conference Center while attending the Phoenix Society World Burn Congress in National Harbor, MD, October 3-7, 2023. Without this generous contribution we would have not been able to attend.
It was great to catch up and socialize in person with fellow attendees! Both of us benefitted greatly from listening to the keynote speakers, attending open-mic sessions, and participating in informative workshops that addressed areas of each of our situations and interests.
John is a SOAR member. John benefitted from attending the SOAR workshops held during this Congress. The information John received gave him additional tools to continue educating and networking with others. It is his way of “paying it forward” by sharing and supporting burn survivors (and family members) during different situations of their on-going rehabilitation stages.
We suggest that everyone, regardless of his/her personal experiences or professional background, try to take advantage of attending this Congress at least once. It is truly a life changer!
Sincerely,
Diane & John Mansfield
Dear BSONE,
Thank you for making it possible for our family to be able to attend the World Burn Congress 2016. Words cannot nearly describe what the experience was for us, other than utterly AMAZING!
As a survivor’s spouse it was inspiring to see other survivor spouses and/or families and see that they are making it and are happy with themselves. Coming from a small town away from support it was incredibly beneficial to our children to meet others who have either been in a similar situation or are survivors themselves. It appears that it enabled them to get a better understanding, to realize they aren’t alone, and also to realize there are worse situations out there.
One thing that we really enjoyed about the conferences is that we frequently ran into presenters at other times while were there. Unlike in other situations where presenters are just there to present, they would stop, have conversation and were very warm and friendly. It was completely different than the typical presenters who are paid to be there and don’t care about the personal connection.
Open mic was beneficial to hear other stories and also to see that it is common for it to be difficult to talk about and that sometimes it takes years to fully be able to tell the story. For Chris, he learned that he can tell his story, but that he is not ready to talk about how he is feeling.
When we first arrived at the hotel we were nervous and didn’t know what to expect. After the opening ceremony we felt welcomed and like we belonged. It was the first of many times that our whole family said “This is Amazing!” We continued to feel this way throughout the next few days. At the closing ceremony we absolutely loved the drums, the passing of the flag, and the slide shows. We were really excited to see the slide shows up on the Phoenix Societies Facebook page as it was a great way to show our small hometown community what the burn conference was all about. Since sharing that video we have heard many comments about what a great experience it was, how beneficial it must have been, and how inspiring just the videos alone were.
One of Chris’s favorite presentations was the presentation on how to present and how to tell your story. He found this to be interesting and gained some great tips that he may use in the future if he is ever in the position to tell his story.
Overall it was a life changing experience for us. We cannot express our gratitude enough for our family being able to attend. We hope that in the future we will be able to attend other World Burn Congresses, as we can clearly see how year after year you could gain new insight and experience from this. We look forward to seeing our new friends/family and meeting new ones!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
Sharon and Chris Ricker
To: Sponsors and Burn Survivors of New England
Re: Thank you
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