Burned as children, thriving as adults

If Adam and Megan Walter had it to do all over again, they wouldn't change a thing.

Not the fiery accident or the searing pain. Not the masks and suits they wore over their skin for years. Not the tense hospital visits that lasted throughout childhood.

Their burns are part of who they are. Their injuries shaped their lives to such a degree that without them they would be different people. And so, they'll stick with what they've got.

IN A FLASH
On a June night 21 years ago propane gas exploded at their home in Ellicott, leaving third-degree burns on dad Bill, Adam, 6, and Megan, 4. Mom Cindy and baby Abby were spared.

Doctors didn't know if the children would survive; Megan suffered third-degree burns on 75 percent of her body and Adam on 58 percent of his. Cindy said she prayed that night that her children would die, so their suffering would end.

They didn't die. And Cindy quickly changed her focus to helping them heal. The Walters allowed Gazette reporter Dave Curtin and photographer Tom Kimmell into their lives for that journey, with the hope it would help the community embrace the children behind their healing masks. That hope was largely realized. Their story won a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.

FAMILY STILL NO. 1
So, two decades later, how are Adam and Megan doing?

Adam, 27, is now Dr. Walter. He received his medical degree from Indiana University and is completing his residency in obstetrics-gynecology in Toledo, Ohio.

Adam and his college sweetheart, Kate, have been married four years now, and they are expecting their first child — Zoey Jane — in September.

The couple came home recently for a visit. The Walter family gathered around the dinner table, and the laughter, memories and conversation flowed easily. The courage and openness that made the family inspiring to so many is still evident.

Cooking the dinner at her home in Black Forest was Megan, 25, who is now a professional in the kitchen.

Megan earned a degree in business, but discovered that her true love is for the culinary arts. She's worked in some of the best kitchens in Colorado Springs for the last few years and this fall she plans to open her own pastry shop — Sweet Daphne Confections — at the corner of Union and Dublin.

LEARNING ALONG THE WAY
Things are going very well for Adam and Megan. But their road after the burns wasn't easy.

They wore brown silicone-rubber masks over their faces for three years and Jobskins elastic suits on their bodies for four years, to help their skin heal smoothly. They gave presentations to classmates, so the other children wouldn't be frightened or act mean out of ignorance. They traveled monthly to a children's hospital in Texas for about seven years, never knowing whether they'd be there for a short checkup or held for days for a surgery or treatment.

"There was always fear every time, because if there was something wrong they'd have to stay," Cindy said.

And, until they were each 18, they traveled to the hospital every other month. Even though he's a doctor now, Adam said some hospital smells still stir up primal reactions in him and he's forced to leave the room.

"It was difficult, especially for Adam, growing up. But they both adjusted," the Rev. Richard Keltner said. He was senior pastor of Mesa Hills Bible Church when the accident happened, the church the family still attends.

Thinking of the Walters reminded Keltner of Romans 8:28: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God...."

"All things aren't good, but God uses them for the good," Keltner said. "Their family was a great example of that, because of the good that came from the way they've worked with other people."

Adam and Megan's physical healing exceeded all expectations. They were told early on that their mobility would be limited forever. But Adam ended up playing basketball at his small college, and Megan has no trouble with the physical demands of running a kitchen.

Bill had to give up ranching because his burned skin couldn't be exposed to the sun, so he started his own trucking company and has done well. He was able to provide, but he still cries when he thinks about the sadness he's felt, as a father who was unable to protect his children from pain.

The burns are more than skin deep. Confident and funny now, Adam said anger simmered for a long time.

"I think I was probably really angry up until college," he said.

And he still relies on his burns as a barometer of character for strangers.

"Adam uses the burns as a test for people," Cindy said. "If it's no big deal, it's fine. If they pity him, it's a problem."

He knew Kate for four years before he even told her how he was burned, and it's probably no coincidence that his future wife never once asked about his scars until he chose to tell her. Kate said the reactions of strangers to Adam was foreign to her.

"It was hard at first, because I don't seek attention. I didn't want to be stared at in the mall," she said. "But you get over it."

Megan came home from kindergarten and told her mom she was the ugliest girl in class. As a little girl, she was interested in ribbons and earrings and long hair, so people would know a girl was behind the brown mask. Her baby sister learned the words "Megan pretty" and applied them over and over, like a salve.

"I'm gonna have long hair," Megan said when she was 4. "Before I was burned, I had it all the way past my back."

Megan still has long hair, but she's dispensed with the rest of that girly-girl stuff. When she was a teenager, she chose against cosmetic surgeries, even though it was hard to look so different at a phase of life when looks are paramount. She is smart and hilarious, and says she's not terribly concerned about her appearance these days.

"How can I not take it lightly?" she asked. "First of all, I look crazy. There is no way to hide it. At this time of our life, it's easier to laugh about it than cry."

The burns even come with some advantages.

"Because everyone can see our story, a lot of people will tell me their stories," Adam said. "There's a lot of people, because of that, who feel very connected to me."

Adam and Megan seem supremely comfortable in who they are and where they're going.

"I always wondered how their lives would unfold because of it, or not unfold because of it," Bill said.

He doesn't have to wonder any more.

"It has changed my entire life. And some days it sucks that you're burned," Megan said. "But I would do it again. I wouldn't have my life any different."