They Put the Past Behind Them at Picnic : For Ex-Burn Patients, a Bright Reunion

The aroma of hamburgers on a hot grill and the sight of kids playing with balloons could be a scene from any picnic. But for many of the 100 or so people gathered at an Orange County Burn Recovery Assn. reunion in Garden Grove Saturday, the cool shade of the trees once was not enough protection from the hot afternoon sun.

“Right after you’re burned, it’s impossible to stand the sun. It hurts,” said Tom Handlan, 24, who suffered second- and third-degree burns over 95% of his body in a 1981 car accident.

The sun is no longer an enemy for Handlan or the dozens of other burn victims who gathered with doctors, nurses and therapists from UC Irvine Medical Center’s burn unit.

“They have to get together once in a while to see that they’re OK,” Yanna Gaussa said of the group, a support and fund-raising arm for the burn unit.

The tragedies that originally brought together the burn victims and those who aided them were put behind at the Garden Grove Atlantis Play Center, where clowns from the local Elks Club, balloons and plenty of food helped create a cheerful atmosphere.

“A lot of people want to get away from it. They don’t want to be reminded,” said Handlan, who recently received his associate of arts degree and now is a student at Cal State Fullerton.

But for those who can cope with the reminders, Handlan said, events such as the picnic or the hospital’s annual Christmas reunions help the newer burn patients, the ones who aren’t sure if they can survive the daily gauze changes, the open wounds, the peeling skin, the pain--and then the scars.

“It’s easy to get away. But for myself, I see it as an opportunity to help,” said Handlan, whose conversation was intermittently interrupted by greetings from therapists or burn victims. “The hospital is like a second family to me. I spent so much time there.”

Dr. Bruce Achauer, the burn center director, who like many others attended the picnic with his family, said, “It’s a kick for me and the staff to see everyone in a non-hospital setting.”

Nearby was one of Achauer’s more prominent patients, 9-year-old David Rothenberg, the victim of a 1983 fire set by his father.

The delight of his mother, Marie, later turned to concern when David readied for a sack race. “Oh, Lord, he just had surgery,” she said.

Like other burn victims, David can expect to undergo operations a couple of times a year for several years, Achauer said.

Janet Handlan, Tom’s mother, said it’s the positive, hopeful attitude of the burn victims that helps them and their relatives get through it “one day at a time.” Her son agreed: “You have to remember that it’s survival first, function second and cosmetic third.”

The cosmetic surgery that may alter his scars, half-fingers and burned eyebrows, he said, is a matter of “fine-tuning.”