Meet Jake and Janet, they have been through it all together. On a night that should have been filled with laughter and celebration Jake was involved in a horrifying accident. “I was at a 21st birthday party in Deniliquin. Someone was playing with petrol around a campfire, I wasn’t really watching,” he says. “He started pouring it on the campfire. The fire went up towards the kettle of petrol, so he threw it, and I was on the other side. I was covered in two litres of burning petrol.” Jake had suffered burns to 69% of his body. For 2 ½ weeks after the accident he was in an induced coma and describes the experience as “living a nightmare.” A year on from Jake’s accident, Janet was diagnosed with PTSD but instead of asking why they had been put in this position they turned their personal adversity into hope and support for other burn patients.
The Roach Foundation is dedicated to providing assistance to burn patients and their families, in the treatment of their injuries and in their rehabilitation. The assistance may be by way of direct financial support or provided via a network of service providers, who specialise in the field of treating those who have suffered a burn trauma.
