A burn survivor’s path to recovery
Thanksgiving Day in 2024 began like any other for James Mousaw. After his morning cup of coffee, the motorcycle aficionado headed for his backyard workshop to work on several painting projects at his home in Orange.
He noticed that his can of spray paint was cold, so he placed it in a bowl of water to warm it, a technique many painters use for a steady spray.
When Mousaw picked up the can a few minutes later, it was too warm to handle. As he moved to set it down on a table, it exploded, creating a fireball that burned his shirt and torso.
Panicked and in pain, he drove to the emergency department at UCI Health — Orange, formerly UCI Medical Center. He was immediately admitted to the UCI Health Regional Burn Center with burns covering 40% of his body. There, Dr. Syed F. Saquib, medical director of the unit and a trauma and burn surgeon, was on duty for Thanksgiving.
After evaluating Mousaw in the emergency department, Saquib took him to the OR to surgically address the burns. This was the first of twenty surgeries that he would need in the next five months, including debridement of burns, temporary coverage and wound closure with skin grafts.
When Mousaw was awakened from a several weeks-long medically induced coma, he learned the extent of his injuries and treatments. But he had no memory of the multiple surgeries he’d endured in the many weeks since the explosion. The news didn’t put him in the best frame of mind.
“It was scary waking up from a bad accident, especially in the hospital,” he says. “I hardly ate. I wouldn’t get out of bed to walk up and down the hall, even though I knew I should. I didn’t have any motivation since I didn’t know if I’d be able to fully recover.”
Charting a path forward
Mousaw’s attitude improved dramatically after a visit from Ed Bailey, a fellow burn survivor and volunteer with the UCI Health Burn Survivor’s Support Group. Bailey was in an accident about a decade ago. Once he recovered, he started volunteering at UCI Health, sharing his story with burn patients and helping them through their recovery.
“Ed sat down and visited with me, which helped me to understand how to mentally cope during recovery,” Mousaw remembers. “It’s because of Ed that I was able to calm my mind and chart a path to get back to work.”
With Bailey’s encouragement and the support of a robust group of friends and co-workers who visited regularly, Mousaw began to eat regularly and exercise to build up his strength. He recovered enough to be discharged at the end of March, almost four months to the day that he entered the hospital.
Exceptional care at UCI Health
Mousaw believes his recovery would not have been possible without the high-quality care provided by the expert healthcare specialists at the UCI Health Regional Burn Center.
“I am thankful for the doctors and nurses who took care of me, even when it seemed like I’d never leave the hospital,” he says. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without UCI Health.”
Not only was he able return to work on May 1 as a project manager with a local office furniture company, but he also slowly began working on his motorcycles again.
Now, more than a year after his accident, he is back to taking weekend motorcycle rides with friends.
Mousaw’s burn surgeon says his recovery has been nothing short of remarkable.
“We regularly see Mr. Mousaw in our burn recovery clinic,” Saquib says. “It’s wonderful to watch him continue to heal and improve.”
Mousaw hopes to give back to the burn survivor community, like Bailey did for him, by visiting burn survivors hospitalized at UCI Health in the future.
“Mental health is important during recovery,” he says. He knows firsthand that “having burn survivors visit people with similar injuries gives them hope that recovery is possible.”