HOW I OVERCAME: Against All Odds, I Survived 65% First Degree Burns – Auta

Mr Polycarp Auta works with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Five years ago, he was involved in a domestic gas explosion that left him with over 65 per cent first-degree burns. The incident occurred at his residence, Rayfield in Jos, Plateau State. He was rushed to Air Force Military Hospital and later to the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), because of the seriousness of the burns.

At JUTH, after a series of medical assessments of the extent of the damage done to his skin, his chances of survival were declared very slim. The medical team told his boss, Mr Ephraims Sheyin, who stood by him, to accept the terrible news: Auta had a 70 per cent mortality and a 30 per cent chance of living.

Auta said he stayed at JUTH ICU for over four months nursing his wounds. The accident grounded him for over nine months (February to November), before he was certified to resume work.

His survival didn’t come without humongous spending, huge sacrifices and losses by family members, colleagues, friends and associates. It didn’t just come without the efforts of his medical team, who were ready to do anything to see him bounce back to life. It did not come without sleepless nights, excruciating pains and above all, his zeal and determination to live again.

In a chat with LEADERSHIP in Jos, five years later, Auta narrated his experience and how he had braced the odds to survive despite predictions that he would not make it.

He said, “If I had an inkling of what was going to happen to me on Monday, February 3,  2014, at about 2:30 p.m; if I knew I was going to be engulfed by a domestic fire disaster; first, I wouldn’t have left my father’s house in Akwanga, Nasarawa State, where I travelled to spent the weekend with my mother and siblings.

“Second, I wouldn’t have left the office before my usual time of 5 or 6 p.m., and third, I wouldn’t have visited the kitchen immediately I got home and ensured I had no connection with my cooking gas that fateful afternoon.

“Because I do not own my life and what fate had ordained from my birth, that such a thing will happen as it did, all I can say today is I am extremely grateful to God.

“I am full of praise and gratitude because there were those whose experience was less compared to mine, yet they could not survive it. I am grateful because I am still alive to tell my sad but beautiful and inspiring story,” he said.

He insisted that surviving huge burns such as this in Nigeria is very difficult owing to the shortage of manpower, modern equipment and poor technical know-how, but “tasking” living with the scars.

Auta recalled how often he stood before the mirror to cry profusely, having noticed that his skin and complexion had changed totally in the first two years of the accident, adding that today, the situation is no longer the same, for he has come to terms with the reality and has learned to accept things the way they are.

“Initially, I felt somewhat embarrassed whenever I had to introduce myself to people because they could hardly recognise me. A few days back, after I was discharged from the hospital, I met a classmate in a bank in Jos, and I was pretty sure he wouldn’t recognise me again, but after exchanging pleasantries.

“ I threw the question to him: ‘Do you recognise this face? And he answered, ‘I don’t, but your voice sounds like that of my classmate, Polycarp Auta.’ I hugged him, and tears rolled down my face. We all abandoned our day’s activities and had a swell time with him because he wanted to know what happened to me,” he said.

According to Auta, even though his complexion has changed, his hairy skin has disappeared; the fact is that nothing about him as a person has changed.

“At the hospital, when I started recuperating, people were allowed to come and see me. Everybody kept saying, “God allowed you to live for a purpose”. Even my nurses and doctors kept saying the same thing.

“But it did make any meaning to me, particularly that I knew I wasn’t going to look the same again. But I tell you, over the years, I have seen God using me in very many ways, and I am immensely grateful.

He pointed out today, he wears his scar proudly as a badge of honour and he is no longer ashamed of what happened to him because he believed that it was for a reason, adding that he might look ugly now, at least with a dented skin, his story is quite inspiring, he has seen people getting sober and emotional anytime he shared his experience with them.

According to him, in the last five years, his life has not been the same because he has come across wonderful people and some of them inspired him, some challenged him, while others loved him, many hated him, while a good number of them, however, encouraged him. But the interesting thing about all of them is that they made him realise how beautiful and meaningful his life is.

“Today, I have decided to share some pictures that I hardly show anyone, not even my close friends. These were pictures of my days at the hospital. I have summoned the courage to share it today because what matters to me now is that I am alive, and God’s grace has been sufficient for me;   it’s needless to hide anything,” he said.