In an instant, Sean Smith went from meal prepping for the week at 11 a.m. on a Monday to flying in a helicopter to Vanderbilt with second and third degree burns over more than 25 percent of his body.
The oil in a pan caught fire in his kitchen and went all over his arms, legs and face.
“I had burns all over my face, both arms, I was wearing a hoodie at the time, and both of my arm sleeves were rolled up so there is just a defined line on both of my arms where you can see where the burn was and was not,” said Smith, who was a college senior at Murray State University in Kentucky at the time. “And both of my legs were very thoroughly burned all the way around and all the way down. It was 25-30 percent coverage.”
“I thought I had blinded myself because I looked in the mirror and couldn’t see out of my right eye and it was completely white but thankfully it was not that bad.”
Smith was told that his burns couldn’t be fully treated locally so he would be airlifted to either the Vanderbilt Burn Center in Nashville or the University of Louisville.
“All of my family is in Louisville, so I don’t actually know why we chose Nashville, but I am glad we did because it was very good there,” he said.
He was admitted Nov. 11, 2024, and spent 17 days in the burn unit.
Blane Sexton, PT, DPT, was his primary physical therapist during his hospital admission and remembers Sean as nice and polite young man whose goal was to get back to the gym and paying volleyball with his friends.
“While Sean is a healthy and fit young man, he was, like so many others with burn injury, significantly affected by pain during his initial recovery,” Sexton said. “Despite this, Sean showed incredible perseverance, always agreeing to participate in physical therapy to the degree he was able. It’s because of this determination that he was able to make such an amazing recovery and achieve his goals.”
Smith was able to return to the gym and his athletic lifestyle. He also graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering from Murray State University on May 10, 2025, almost six months to the day after his accident. He now works as an engineer in Louisville.
“I got released from the hospital last year exactly one day before Thanksgiving,” he said. “My whole family thought I was still going to be in the hospital so that was just the best gift to spend time with your family and not take anything for granted because your whole life can get uprooted in five minutes,” Smith said.
Smith and his family have come back to thank their doctors, nurses and therapists since his stay in Nashville. His last checkup was in July, so he stayed a little longer and went to see the staff.
“I am glad not a lot of people know what that is like to be burned but I think you learn a lot about yourself when you go through some sort of traumatic event like that. I can’t stress this enough: the nurses made that experience so much easier because they were very on top of it, very friendly, very aware that I was a person and not just a patient,” Smith said.
“I have gone through something now that most people will never face. When you are put in front of that kind of adversity, some people I guess would not know how to deal with it, would not understand that there is only one way to go. I think I learned that, beyond anything else, my family is there for me and is amazing.”
Sexton noted how important it was that Smith had his family by his side during his recovery.
“He wasn’t alone. Thankfully, unlike some of our patients, Sean had the support of his loving family the entire time. Specifically, his mother, Rachel, was always a calm and nurturing presence even during the most physically and emotionally painful situations,” he said.
“Their support is a testament to the difference loved ones can make in a patient’s healing. I was absolutely thrilled to witness and be a part of Sean’s incredible recovery, and I am grateful for his and the entire Smith family’s trust in my care. I hope to continue to see Sean crush it and achieve all he wants in life.”
Burn care specialist Michael Elam, who did most of Smith’s hydrotherapy during his stay at Vanderbilt, said he was a memorable patient and ‘tougher than a $2 steak.’
“A lot of patients dread the dressing changes, so we try to make it as pleasant as possible,” Elam said. “Every time we would come to get him to take him to the hydrotherapy room, he would be up and willing to walk down there without hesitation. He knew that this was a necessary process to get him back to his baseline.
“We would laugh and joke during the wound care. It was a highlight of our day when it came time for his dressing change because we knew that even though it was unpleasant for him, we all would make the best of the situation by good conversation and laughter,” he said.
Rachel recently sent a letter to staff of the Burn Unit.
“As utterly and completely devastating as all of this has been for us, and as incomprehensible as it all seemed, we now understand — as members of the burn community — just how incredibly fortunate we are,” she wrote. “We all know that without the expertise and care of the Burn Team, the outcome would have been unspeakable.”
