Pitt Meadows teen shares recovery journey after receiving severe burns
Posted May 30, 2025 11:17 am.
Last Updated May 30, 2025 11:58 am.
In her final year of high school last year, Pitt Meadows resident Alex Paterson attempted to burn her old work shoes to celebrate her last restaurant shift.
With her dad, a firefighter, they set up a bucket in their backyard with dirt, rocks, and rubbing alcohol.
“I went down to light it, and it wasn’t lighting at first, so I bent over to look what I was doing, and then it just blew up in my face,” Paterson explained.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!In a split second, she protected her face with her right arm, but the flames quickly spread to her pants.
“They’re made of polyester, so they’re a highly flammable material, which I didn’t think of ahead of time. And they started to melt to my legs,” she added.
What was supposed to be a proud moment for the teen turned into a freak accident where she suffered second- and third-degree burns on 28 per cent of her body.
“At that point, all my hope just disappeared,” she said.
In the days and weeks that followed, Paterson was determined to find a new normal. With the help of Vancouver General Hospital’s burn unit, her family, and friends, just a month after the incident and still unable to walk, she attended her high school prom in a wheelchair.
“That was a moment where I was like, yeah, I can do it. I made it to prom, and I was in the hospital two hours ago. I can do more than I think I can,” she told CityNews.
With a newfound sense of confidence, Paterson attended ‘Burn Camp,’ a project funded by the Hometown Heroes lottery. There, she found a unique community and a pivotal new friendship.
Sammy Badger suffered extensive burns herself and became close with Paterson that summer. While they met during challenging life conditions, both Badger and Paterson share a similarly optimistic outlook.
“Going to a place where not all stories are the same, but you all just have this understanding of each other and what you went through, and you don’t have to explain yourself that much,” Badger explained.
“It’s hard in the moment obviously, when you’re going through something so difficult and painful, but there is that light at the other end of the tunnel, that is there,” she added.
Fourteen months later, Paterson is heading into her sophomore year at Eastern Michigan University, where she’s gearing up to play Division 1 lacrosse, proving to herself and those around her that strength runs deeper than you might think.
“You’re stronger than you think you are,” she said.
