By Leigh Farmer 

Wendy Cowen was taking a peaceful walk in the woods behind her mother’s house last fall when the unthinkable happened. 

She was attacked by a bear.   

Neck fractured. Half her head scalped. A deep scratch centimeters away from her left eye. She was on the ground and defenseless.   

“I couldn’t get up and I thought it was the end,” she recalled. 

After more than a month at VCU Medical Center, Wendy was able to return home to heal. Her physical wounds are healing nicely. The emotional ones are healing too, thanks to a support system that has grown beyond friends and family to a community of trauma survivors connected to VCU Health. 

“So many people helped me in so many ways,” Wendy said. “I’d rather not have this metal in my neck, but everything was just as good as it could possibly be.” 

Wendy has been able to find the blessing in her trauma. Not everyone can. 

According to the Coalition For National Trauma Research, 2.3 million people are hospitalized at a trauma center in the United States each year. As both a Level I trauma center and Level I burn center for adults and pediatrics, VCU Medical Center treats more than 3,500 trauma patients annually. Because of this, VCU Health is in a unique position to connect survivors and caregivers to others with similar experiences who are looking for support after they leave the medical center. 

How to find support for burn and trauma survivors

The Trauma Survivors Network is a national program that provides support for patients who are navigating life after experiencing a traumatic physical injury. At VCU Health, the network is made up of clinical staff, medical students, and patient volunteers. The Phoenix SOAR program is a similar initiative that is in play at the VCU Health Evans-Haynes Burn Center. SOAR stands for Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery. 

Trauma is defined as “an emotional or physical response to an event that threatens life and can cause lasting negative effects on mental and physical health,” according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 

After an accident, the physical wounds need immediate medical attention, but mental wounds are just beginning to form underneath the surface. They can be harder to spot. 

“There is a grieving period. What am I going to be tomorrow? What am I going to be next week? How am I going to continue with my life?” said Kirk McClure, a burn survivor. 

Thirty-five years post burn trauma, I got up and told my story to over 100 people. I saw the faces when I was telling my story, and I just knew that was where I was supposed to be.

Kirk McClure, VCU Health peer support volunteer and burn survivor

He woke up in the early hours of New Year’s Day in 1981 to his apartment burning. On fire himself, he managed to escape but not before fifty-five percent of his body was severely burned. He spent nine and a half months at VCU Medical Center, formerly the Medical College of Virginia.   

Today, Kirk volunteers his time talking with patients who are still recovering in the hospital. He is a trained member of both TSN and SOAR, a program run by the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors.   

“I’ve been given a gift,” he said. “I want to be able to give this gift back.”  

He visits patients on the Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit (STICU) and the VCU Health Evans-Haynes Burn Center two days a week. Wendy is in the middle of her TSN training but will soon do similar volunteer work. She shares Kirk’s sentiments.  

“So many people helped me in so many ways,” she said.   

Trauma, including severe burn injury, can trigger depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder in 45% of patients. Specifically, the National Trauma Institute estimates that 21% of traumatic injury survivors develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and nearly a quarter develop depression within the first year. VCU Health patients are screened for both. If a patient is found to be at risk, they are seen by a specialist who can help them further. 

One way to find that help is through peer support. SOAR and TSN are just some of the support programs VCU Health offers. 

“The healing occurs in the ability to talk and listen to folks who have walked a similar path,” said Tiffany Lord, R.N., program coordinator for the Evans-Haynes Burn Center. 

Kirk says the power is in the personal connection.  

“Sometimes I'll go in and we won't even talk about injury. I try to find out where people are from as an icebreaker and take their mind off of where they are. We just carry on a conversation,” Kirk said. 

Connecting outside of the hospital

The healing doesn’t stop when a patient is discharged from the hospital. These peer support programs provide opportunities to build long lasting connections with others who have experienced similar situations.  

The Evans-Haynes Burn Center was an early adopter of healing through peer support. For more than two decades, the center has held an event called Burn Survivor Sunday. Survivors and their families get the chance to spend an afternoon with some of the people who helped them during one of the hardest times of their lives – familiar faces of the entire burn interdisciplinary team, local firefighters and EMS, and even other patients.  

“There are things shared at this event that would never be shared outside of those walls. That is powerful, and a reason in itself to continue to offer this event,” Lord said.  

I worry that the whole positive outlook is going to tank one of these days. I think [the TSN program] keeps you afloat because you're constantly checking in with people who have had something like this happen, and you can see how they dealt with it.

Wendy Cowen, VCU Health patient and bear attack survivor

In fact, it’s how Kirk got his start as a peer volunteer. 

“Thirty-five years post burn trauma, I got up and told my story to over 100 people,” he recalled. “I saw the faces when I was telling my story, and I just knew that was where I was supposed to be.” 

It’s a no judgement zone; a safe place to connect and heal.   

“There are no awkward stares at scars, or limitations due to burns. Instead, it is a kind, safe and welcoming environment for folks to come together to support one another, network together and make friends,” Lord said. 

This year, VCU Health’s TSN added another event to the calendar for survivors of trauma. At the first Richmond Ivy pre-professional women’s soccer game, more than 70 VCU Health medical professionals, trauma survivors, and their families joined to begin the healing journey together. 

Just six months after surviving the bear attack, Wendy decided to attend. She says it was the beginning of a new chapter. 

“I got a lot of attention because it was a bear attack. But then I looked at the other people around me and I thought ‘oh my God’ it’s just incredible what they went through,” Wendy said. 

Her physical wounds are still fresh. Although she is resilient, she remains cautious.  For her, TSN is not just a way to give back, but a way to strengthen her. 

“I worry that the whole positive outlook is going to tank one of these days,” Wendy said. “I think [the TSN program] keeps you afloat because you're constantly checking in with people who have had something like this happen, and you can see how they dealt with it.”