I thought what girl would want to marry a guy that looks like this? What person would want to live the rest of their life with a person that looks the way I thought I was going to look? I've always had an interest and a passion for cooking.
I was excited that I got the job and I wanted to impress. I thought, hey you know what? I could actually make something out of this job.
I could actually make a career out of this, you know? And there's some pretty cute girls who work here too so hey it's good. It was nice having a friendly face to work with, especially when I didn't really know the job too well.
So he had a little bit more knowledge on the job than I did, which he kind of showed me a few things, so it was just pretty much a friend showing me what to do instead of a proper specific trainer or following any sort of guidelines. I started out doing this job like I did every night. The only thing that was a little out of the ordinary was I guess the labour costs were a little too high that week, so my employer asked me and Danny to finish up a little early because they didn't want to pay for both of us to the end of the night.
"I haven't even turned the fryer off. " So now our procedures that we would do at completely different times - they were done at the same time. Danny was doing the floors at the same time I was transferring that oil into that big pasta pot.
And then we would transfer it into a disposal bin in the back of the restaurant. That oil that I'd empty out was 375 degrees right out of the deep fryer. Danny said yeah I got a couple other things to do so I'll stick around - you can go home early.
I started walking with that pot of oil. As I was walking around that back prep table, I had a vision. I saw myself falling with that pot of oil right before it happened, but I didn't think anything of it.
I didn't think that it was a warning, or I didn't think or know it was my body trying to protect me. I just shrugged it off and I said okay, that was kind of weird, but whatever. As soon as that oil hit my skin I heard the sound when you drop french fries in a deep fryer.
That sound of sizzling skin. "What happened? Call 911!
Right now! " Danny grabbed that hose, didn't even think about it. He turned it on me and sprayed me down right away.
That bought me some time. My body never went into shock. And I felt every single thing.
When I heard the voice telling me that my son was on life support at their emergency ward and we had to come because there'd been an accident. He'd been burned at work. I don't even have the vocabulary to describe how much how much pain I was in - and I'm not trying to be dramatic or overexaggerate - I mean it hurt bad really really really really badly it hurt.
I could hear the doctors and the nurses scurrying around and trying to figure out what to do and I heard my mom obviously bawling her eyes out. I couldn't accept that this was reality yet. When we saw him on that bed it was the worst thing anybody could ever see ever, and they just said to us we'll do the best we can to keep him alive.
I can remember sitting beside him with my head on his bed counting his respirations because he was barely breathing and I didn't know if each one would be the last one. It was awful. They said I was really close to living or dying.
They said that I just about ran out of time. The blistering was really scary to look at because it wasn't something any of us had ever seen before. I spent the next two and a half weeks every morning, every afternoon, and every night, three times a day, getting what's called my skin debrided.
They take this tool and they will brush off the damaged skin cells while it is in such a tender state - it's so raw and fresh. I mean God they're taking the top layer of skin off of your body. Screaming - you could hear him from one end of the hall to the other.
Nobody wanted to be by that room because of the screaming. All we cared about was him surviving at first and then healing. Not really thinking too far down the road - just live and fight.
I didn't even really want to be alive after those four or five days were up. No human being should ever have that go through their minds, you know, especially not a 19-year-old kid. Nothing prepares you for waking up and you see what your leg looks like without skin on it.
Nothing prepares you for that. They took like a potato peeler and peel off the top layer of skin and then they literally sew a big bandage holding this piece of skin in place. I suffered first, second, third degree burns to 43% of my body.
The first degree burns were around my face, neck, and the second degree burn was my neck, chest, and then third degree burn was the left side of my chest right over top of my heart. I'm not angry about it. I'm sad about it.
I'm sad that it happened to Matt. I shudder to think of it ever happening to another young person in a restaurant. I hope it never ever does.
No parent should ever have to see their child in the ICU fighting for his life from a stupid work accident that could have been avoided. It's almost like I kick myself every day for not trusting that gut feeling, for not listening to what my body was trying to tell me. I would go back and I would tell that employer I'm not doing that job.
I would say no! And I would say that you can't make me do it because it's unsafe, because I have rights. That's what I would change.
As a worker you have the right to a safe workplace and the right to refuse unsafe work.
