Dallas (WBAP/KLIF News) – A non-profit is making a donation to Parkland Hospital to help burn victims pay for ongoing costs. Sons of the Flag is an organization that helps military, law enforcement and civilian burn victims.
Sons of the Flag donated $12,500 Thursday and will create an endowment for the burn center at Parkland.
“This is the only burn unit in the city,” says Ryan Parrot, a former Navy SEAL who founded Sons of the Flag. “Obviously, it’s a brand new hospital, so it’s ready for the patients, but it’s also one of the pioneers in the country.”
Parrott says the endowment will help burn victims and their families prepare for recovery at home. He says many families will struggle to pay for dressings, creams and medications they will need when the leave the hospital.
“The aftermath of a burn is completely different,” Parrott says. “With any other injury, you’re going to go to the hospital and come back home. A burn is a lifelong injury. In between hospital visits, what do you do? You still have to fend for yourself and have people take care of you.”
“Being discharged is chapter one of the story,” says Kathleen Dougherty, the director of nursing at Parkland’s burn center. “There’s another story to be written. Rehabilitation and ongoing wound care may take some patients years and years.”
Dougherty says the endowment will help with those ongoing costs and set up programs to help people get back to school or work.
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