AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) – A Colorado man is raising awareness about the dangers of burns after a car repair accident left him seriously injured, resulting in dozens of surgeries and a week in a medically induced coma.
Jarran Shaw spent months at UCHealth’s Burn and Frostbite Center in Aurora, where doctors performed several surgeries to help heal his skin after burning about 25% of his body last spring.
“Basically, it backfired, causing everything in that immediate area to catch on fire,” Shaw said.
Shaw, a self-described jack of all trades, is always working on something around his hometown of Durango. In April 2024, he was helping a friend repair an old car when a separate line sprayed fuel on his body, causing him to catch fire.
Stop falling and rolling to extinguish flames before the local fire chief arrives.
“I remember him asking me to get in the shade and sit,” Shaw said. “They didn’t care about anything else burning. All the water needed to flow on me.”
Shaw was later placed into a medically induced coma and woke up 230 miles away in an Aurora hospital bed. Over the next few months, a team of doctors at UCHealth worked to heal his burns and even reconstruct his ear with multiple grafts and surgeries.
“We are trying hard to advocate for survivors to get them back to the life they had before the injury occurred,” said Dr. Cameron Gibson, a burn surgeon at UCLA who was part of Shaw’s health team.
This week is World Burns Week, and Gibson said Shaw’s experience highlights the seriousness of burn injuries and the importance of a comprehensive physical, emotional and social recovery.
“How can you prevent complications associated with burns, such as infection or long-term scarring?” Gibson said. “How do you prevent the social stigma that can be associated with burns? It’s a very visible injury that can affect people long-term.”
Shaw still has several surgeries to go, but he says some things will change permanently, like losing feeling in his arms and not being able to sweat or feel cold. But he’s back at work now, taking extra precautions by making sure he always has a fire extinguisher nearby, and having the right protective equipment ready.
“I was exposed to fire before while welding, and my shirt caught fire,” he said. “It’s common in this lifestyle, but I’m definitely more vigilant about it now.”
UCHealth staff also share tips for preventing home burns by keeping children away from stoves, making sure water heaters are set to safe temperatures, and if a burn occurs, running them under cold water immediately.