Love For Don and Linda Steinhauer
Donation protected
My name is Michelle Herron, and I am the youngest daughter of Don and Linda Steinhauer. Last Tuesday morning (7/12), I was on my way to drop my son off at my friend's house, so he could go to VBS with his best friend. (They happen to live in the same town that my dad was once the Chief of Police).
My phone started ringing with a West Union, Ohio phone number, but one I didn't know. My parents never call early in the morning - unless something bad has happened. My stomach instantly sank. It was then that I received the scariest phone call to date from my dad. He was still in shock, and all he could say was, 'The house is totally gone.' I pushed for more information, but he was incredibly distraught. The only information that I could really get at that point was that my step-mom Linda was severely burned, and had to be life-flighted to a burn unit in Columbus - over two hours' drive from their home - to the specialty burn unit in at Ohio State University.
It took several hours, and many phone calls while myself, my step brothers and Linda's sisters were urgently in route to Ohio all from different parts of the country to be with Dad and Linda before we were finally able to begin piecing together the trecherous events of the night before. We tried to stay hopeful that it was not as severe as the information we were collecting - but our fears were quickly confirmed.
It was SO MUCH WORSE than we could have ever imagined.
Linda had tripped and fallen on concrete blocks off their back porch, and broke her upper arm (it was a complete break) close to 6 weeks ago. Her doctors were concerned with the idea of doing surgery to repair her arm due to multiple reasons: her age, Stage 2 Diabetes, heart problems and multiple other medical issues. They feared she would not make it through such an extensive surgery. Complicating the issue, due to the Diabetes she was unable to wear a standard cast because they could not keep her blood sugars level due to sweating inside of the cast. Their alternative plan was to put her into a brace similar to one used by sports players that would keep her arm from moving, and hopefully allow the bone to begin to heal itself without operating.
That alone proved to be incredibly painful for her, and
because she has been having difficulty getting around, she found it easier to sleep in one of their electric lift chair recliners they had received through their Medicaide Assistance Program offered through their county.
Dad indicated that he had checked on her at approximately 2:30 AM - she had the chair reclined, and she was sleeping, so he went into bed. He said that sometime within the hour Linda started screaming for him to help. He said that as he came down the hall to help her, he saw flames similar to fireworks shooting out of the back of the chair, and engulfing her and the chair. He said he frantically tried to lower the chair, however he could not get it to go down. His only other option was to pull her up and out of the chair - by this time, she too was engulfed in fire. He indicated that he pushed her to the floor, and tried to roll the fire out with the 'stop, drop and roll' method, however he still couldn't get the fire out. At that point, he had to rip her clothes off of her.
By then, within the shortest amount of time, the house was black with smoke. He said he opened the back door to let the dogs run out - he did not realize that 2 of the dogs had gotten scared and ran back into their bedroom.
He indicated that he had to drag Linda to the front door. By the time they made it out front, the entire house was up in flames. Dad frantically ran to their neighbor Barb's house across the street, screaming to call 911. Barb then rushed over to help dad drag Linda the rest of the way down their ramp because the fire was still so hot. Barb tried to help Linda to her feet, and as she was pulling her up, Linda lost all strength, and went limp. The impact from pulling, and the sudden weight of Linda's body going limp caused a disk in Barb's back to explode. She literally broke her back trying to save my parents.
We later found that Gracie (their Chow mix) and Rosie (their new Doberman) were found still huddled together at the foot of what was once their bed. They had both died from smoke inhilation. After dad and I met with the fire inspector, we took them to the Brown County Veterinarian Clinic to be cremated. Their friends at the clinic were beyond heart broken, and offered to temporarily care for the other two dogs that made it out of the fire - Butch, and Mollie, so that dad would not need to travel back and forth from Columbus to Mt. Orab (2 hours each way) daily to care for the dogs. They are currently still being cared for at the clinic so dad can spend his time at the hospital with Linda.
Linda suffered severe 3rd degree burns to over 30% of the left side of her body, including her entire left arm (the same one that is broken), the left side of her chest, torso, hips and rear down past her hip. The surgeons that spoke with us the morning after the fire indicated that she had also encountered a heart attack during the fire. They explained that surgery would be incredibly risky. In addition, they discovered that she had internal bleeding that was likely sustained when her and Barb fell in the driveway. They had to give her 4 units of blood After a CT Scan, they believed the bleeding was in her liver. They considered surgery to repair the bleeding, but were very hesitant to do such an invasive surgery wihin such a short amount of time of the burns, heart attack, and her broken arm. They indicated that a typical healthy young adult would be risky, so it was that much more of a risk for an older woman who had just sustained such life threatening injuries.
They did explain however that because much of her burn wounds were 3rd degree burns, that if they did not do surgery to remove the debris and dead skin over the wounds, that she had a very high risk of infection - which would quickly take over, and likely pose the possibility of death. We all agreed to the surgery, which was completed this past Friday to only 'clean' the burn areas to allow the underneath living tissue/cells to breath. They then covered the areas with cadaver tissue temporarily until they could do the real surgery scheduled for this week. Fortunately she did wonderful through the surgery, and the second one was then scheduled for yesterday (Tuesday 7/19).
They had 2 teams that would be working on her back to back - the first team would repair her broken arm (they put a rod into her arm), and implant a trecheotomy in her throat so that they could remove the tube in her mouth. The longer that stayed in place, the higher at risk she had for contracting Pnemonia.
The first part of the surgery went well. The problems began surfacing however once the second team prepared to begin the skin grafting. The surgeons indicated that her blood pressure had dropped, and if they proceeded, it could become life threatening (i.e. heart failure, or the possibility that the new skin would not get the air/oxygen necessary to 'take' to the wound areas. They again had to give her 4 more units of blood.
Rather than taking the risk, they tentatively rescheduled the remaining part of the surgery for this Friday 7/22 - as long as her blood pressure returns to semi-normal/stable - or they surgery may need to be extended a bit longer until she is strong enough to go through it (Possibly Monday). She is also now fighting a few small infections, which they began antibiotics immediately.
Regarding my dad - he suffered 1st and 2nd degree burns to both of his hands. I would notice him squeezing his hands, and asked him if they were hurting, to which he would continously reply that 'when they hurt, he just pictured the pain that Linda was going through, and it made the pain go away.' I talked to Linda's care nurse about it, and she gave us a care bag with burn medicine and bandages - and indicated that he needed to be seen by the ER. Reluctantly my brother was able to talk him into visiting the ER downstairs, where they confimed the severity of his own burns, and were able to assist with treatment.
I physically with my own eyes witnessed the devestation of what remained of their home - it was nothing more than an outer shell of the support beams of the house, and everything crumbled when touched. I thoroughly walked through the remains with the fire inspector to see if there was anything we could salvage. I was able to locate only a few charred jewelry boxes that were in their bedroom, filled only with costume jewelry and sentimental belongings that Linda had collected over her life. We bagged them up, and took them with us. Those few tiny things were all that was left of their home.
The fire inspector confirmed that he believed that the fire began in the motor of the chair Linda was sleeping in - as they had to 'wiggle it' for the past few weeks to make it work to go back down. The power supply was directly beneath the chair. All of those components confirmed why her burns were so bad, as the fire consumed her chair as she slept, and she had no way of getting out of the chair alone. Had dad have not heard her yelling for him - she would have burned to death in that chair. And it is very possible that dad would have also become a casualty - as they had such little time to get out of the house. Dad did not recall hearing any smoke detectors go off either.
The firefighters told dad that they had never seen a house burn as quickly as theirs did, and that because of dad's quick reaction, they were both incredibly lucky to be alive. One fireman who was on the scene that night indicated that in the course of his 19 year career and a fire of that magnitude, he'd only seen 2-3 people survive.
Linda is still not aware of the loss of their two beloved dogs - she kept trying to ask about them while I was there, and I read her lips when she mouthed 'Gracie'. It broke my heart. But as a family we agreed that it would not be in her best interest while fighting for her life to know that two of her 'kids' did not make it out alive. We do not plan to share this information with her for quite some time, as we only want her to focus on healing.
At this point, they have nothing left. Even their van was lost to the fire. The fire was so hot, that it caused the windshield to melt, and the bumpers to melt off the vehicle. They have no clothes - my dad indicated when I first got to see him, that he wasn't even sure who's clothes he was wearing. It is unclear how long the dogs will be able to remain at the Vet Clinic - so that is a very big concern for my dad. He's leaning strongly on them, because outside of Linda fighting for her life, they are the only things that my parents have left.
All things considered, if Linda is able to fight through this, she will have to endure many different 'stairstep treatments' - moving her to different rehabiliation centers to continue to help her heal at each level of her progress. She will likely need go into a nursing home temporarily prior to the goal of an assisted living facility that can help with her wounds. We were advised that she will be hospitalized no less than 6 months - likely longer.
My parents have never been ones to ask for help - but this is devestation beyond their (or any of our) control alone. They have nothing left. It's like a bad dream that won't end - and all they need is a small semblance of normalcy. But right now that's far from possible.
The best news however is they are both alive. Objects can be replaced - but neither of them can be. This is going to be a very long, hard journey - and they need the support of friends, family and anyone else who feels this story tug at their heartstrings. This is so major that they cannot do it alone.
So I plead, if God puts it in your heart to help them, weather physically, emotionally or financially - please do what you can to help. I can assure you that your good deeds will not go unnoticed in the eyes of the Lord.
I know He hears the prayers we have been crying out - and I feel in my heart that he would not have allowed Linda to endure this sort of pain without having a bigger plan. I know she can beat this - but they need EVERYONE that can help to do so.
On behalf of my parents, I beg of you to keep them in your prayers. Any assistance that can provided will be humbly accepted, and will be cherished more than words can describe. The money will be used for clothing, food, a home for them to go home to, and the long term care and rehabilitation that Linda will likely require for the rest of her life.
I have never made a request of this nature before - and it breaks my heart that I am doing it on behalf of my parents. But I would not send out this request if it wasn't necessary. I pray God touches each person who reads this, and will help in any means possible.
Thank you all for the continued prayers and love that has been shown since that horrific night. It has put many things into perspective - one moment you're living your life - and the next moment you could be fighting for it.
Please reshare this link and spread the word to anybody who may be able to assist them during such a difficult time.
May God Bless all who read this. Thank you all in advance for your generosity and continued prayers.
My phone started ringing with a West Union, Ohio phone number, but one I didn't know. My parents never call early in the morning - unless something bad has happened. My stomach instantly sank. It was then that I received the scariest phone call to date from my dad. He was still in shock, and all he could say was, 'The house is totally gone.' I pushed for more information, but he was incredibly distraught. The only information that I could really get at that point was that my step-mom Linda was severely burned, and had to be life-flighted to a burn unit in Columbus - over two hours' drive from their home - to the specialty burn unit in at Ohio State University.
It took several hours, and many phone calls while myself, my step brothers and Linda's sisters were urgently in route to Ohio all from different parts of the country to be with Dad and Linda before we were finally able to begin piecing together the trecherous events of the night before. We tried to stay hopeful that it was not as severe as the information we were collecting - but our fears were quickly confirmed.
It was SO MUCH WORSE than we could have ever imagined.
Linda had tripped and fallen on concrete blocks off their back porch, and broke her upper arm (it was a complete break) close to 6 weeks ago. Her doctors were concerned with the idea of doing surgery to repair her arm due to multiple reasons: her age, Stage 2 Diabetes, heart problems and multiple other medical issues. They feared she would not make it through such an extensive surgery. Complicating the issue, due to the Diabetes she was unable to wear a standard cast because they could not keep her blood sugars level due to sweating inside of the cast. Their alternative plan was to put her into a brace similar to one used by sports players that would keep her arm from moving, and hopefully allow the bone to begin to heal itself without operating.
That alone proved to be incredibly painful for her, and
because she has been having difficulty getting around, she found it easier to sleep in one of their electric lift chair recliners they had received through their Medicaide Assistance Program offered through their county.
Dad indicated that he had checked on her at approximately 2:30 AM - she had the chair reclined, and she was sleeping, so he went into bed. He said that sometime within the hour Linda started screaming for him to help. He said that as he came down the hall to help her, he saw flames similar to fireworks shooting out of the back of the chair, and engulfing her and the chair. He said he frantically tried to lower the chair, however he could not get it to go down. His only other option was to pull her up and out of the chair - by this time, she too was engulfed in fire. He indicated that he pushed her to the floor, and tried to roll the fire out with the 'stop, drop and roll' method, however he still couldn't get the fire out. At that point, he had to rip her clothes off of her.
By then, within the shortest amount of time, the house was black with smoke. He said he opened the back door to let the dogs run out - he did not realize that 2 of the dogs had gotten scared and ran back into their bedroom.
He indicated that he had to drag Linda to the front door. By the time they made it out front, the entire house was up in flames. Dad frantically ran to their neighbor Barb's house across the street, screaming to call 911. Barb then rushed over to help dad drag Linda the rest of the way down their ramp because the fire was still so hot. Barb tried to help Linda to her feet, and as she was pulling her up, Linda lost all strength, and went limp. The impact from pulling, and the sudden weight of Linda's body going limp caused a disk in Barb's back to explode. She literally broke her back trying to save my parents.
We later found that Gracie (their Chow mix) and Rosie (their new Doberman) were found still huddled together at the foot of what was once their bed. They had both died from smoke inhilation. After dad and I met with the fire inspector, we took them to the Brown County Veterinarian Clinic to be cremated. Their friends at the clinic were beyond heart broken, and offered to temporarily care for the other two dogs that made it out of the fire - Butch, and Mollie, so that dad would not need to travel back and forth from Columbus to Mt. Orab (2 hours each way) daily to care for the dogs. They are currently still being cared for at the clinic so dad can spend his time at the hospital with Linda.
Linda suffered severe 3rd degree burns to over 30% of the left side of her body, including her entire left arm (the same one that is broken), the left side of her chest, torso, hips and rear down past her hip. The surgeons that spoke with us the morning after the fire indicated that she had also encountered a heart attack during the fire. They explained that surgery would be incredibly risky. In addition, they discovered that she had internal bleeding that was likely sustained when her and Barb fell in the driveway. They had to give her 4 units of blood After a CT Scan, they believed the bleeding was in her liver. They considered surgery to repair the bleeding, but were very hesitant to do such an invasive surgery wihin such a short amount of time of the burns, heart attack, and her broken arm. They indicated that a typical healthy young adult would be risky, so it was that much more of a risk for an older woman who had just sustained such life threatening injuries.
They did explain however that because much of her burn wounds were 3rd degree burns, that if they did not do surgery to remove the debris and dead skin over the wounds, that she had a very high risk of infection - which would quickly take over, and likely pose the possibility of death. We all agreed to the surgery, which was completed this past Friday to only 'clean' the burn areas to allow the underneath living tissue/cells to breath. They then covered the areas with cadaver tissue temporarily until they could do the real surgery scheduled for this week. Fortunately she did wonderful through the surgery, and the second one was then scheduled for yesterday (Tuesday 7/19).
They had 2 teams that would be working on her back to back - the first team would repair her broken arm (they put a rod into her arm), and implant a trecheotomy in her throat so that they could remove the tube in her mouth. The longer that stayed in place, the higher at risk she had for contracting Pnemonia.
The first part of the surgery went well. The problems began surfacing however once the second team prepared to begin the skin grafting. The surgeons indicated that her blood pressure had dropped, and if they proceeded, it could become life threatening (i.e. heart failure, or the possibility that the new skin would not get the air/oxygen necessary to 'take' to the wound areas. They again had to give her 4 more units of blood.
Rather than taking the risk, they tentatively rescheduled the remaining part of the surgery for this Friday 7/22 - as long as her blood pressure returns to semi-normal/stable - or they surgery may need to be extended a bit longer until she is strong enough to go through it (Possibly Monday). She is also now fighting a few small infections, which they began antibiotics immediately.
Regarding my dad - he suffered 1st and 2nd degree burns to both of his hands. I would notice him squeezing his hands, and asked him if they were hurting, to which he would continously reply that 'when they hurt, he just pictured the pain that Linda was going through, and it made the pain go away.' I talked to Linda's care nurse about it, and she gave us a care bag with burn medicine and bandages - and indicated that he needed to be seen by the ER. Reluctantly my brother was able to talk him into visiting the ER downstairs, where they confimed the severity of his own burns, and were able to assist with treatment.
I physically with my own eyes witnessed the devestation of what remained of their home - it was nothing more than an outer shell of the support beams of the house, and everything crumbled when touched. I thoroughly walked through the remains with the fire inspector to see if there was anything we could salvage. I was able to locate only a few charred jewelry boxes that were in their bedroom, filled only with costume jewelry and sentimental belongings that Linda had collected over her life. We bagged them up, and took them with us. Those few tiny things were all that was left of their home.
The fire inspector confirmed that he believed that the fire began in the motor of the chair Linda was sleeping in - as they had to 'wiggle it' for the past few weeks to make it work to go back down. The power supply was directly beneath the chair. All of those components confirmed why her burns were so bad, as the fire consumed her chair as she slept, and she had no way of getting out of the chair alone. Had dad have not heard her yelling for him - she would have burned to death in that chair. And it is very possible that dad would have also become a casualty - as they had such little time to get out of the house. Dad did not recall hearing any smoke detectors go off either.
The firefighters told dad that they had never seen a house burn as quickly as theirs did, and that because of dad's quick reaction, they were both incredibly lucky to be alive. One fireman who was on the scene that night indicated that in the course of his 19 year career and a fire of that magnitude, he'd only seen 2-3 people survive.
Linda is still not aware of the loss of their two beloved dogs - she kept trying to ask about them while I was there, and I read her lips when she mouthed 'Gracie'. It broke my heart. But as a family we agreed that it would not be in her best interest while fighting for her life to know that two of her 'kids' did not make it out alive. We do not plan to share this information with her for quite some time, as we only want her to focus on healing.
At this point, they have nothing left. Even their van was lost to the fire. The fire was so hot, that it caused the windshield to melt, and the bumpers to melt off the vehicle. They have no clothes - my dad indicated when I first got to see him, that he wasn't even sure who's clothes he was wearing. It is unclear how long the dogs will be able to remain at the Vet Clinic - so that is a very big concern for my dad. He's leaning strongly on them, because outside of Linda fighting for her life, they are the only things that my parents have left.
All things considered, if Linda is able to fight through this, she will have to endure many different 'stairstep treatments' - moving her to different rehabiliation centers to continue to help her heal at each level of her progress. She will likely need go into a nursing home temporarily prior to the goal of an assisted living facility that can help with her wounds. We were advised that she will be hospitalized no less than 6 months - likely longer.
My parents have never been ones to ask for help - but this is devestation beyond their (or any of our) control alone. They have nothing left. It's like a bad dream that won't end - and all they need is a small semblance of normalcy. But right now that's far from possible.
The best news however is they are both alive. Objects can be replaced - but neither of them can be. This is going to be a very long, hard journey - and they need the support of friends, family and anyone else who feels this story tug at their heartstrings. This is so major that they cannot do it alone.
So I plead, if God puts it in your heart to help them, weather physically, emotionally or financially - please do what you can to help. I can assure you that your good deeds will not go unnoticed in the eyes of the Lord.
I know He hears the prayers we have been crying out - and I feel in my heart that he would not have allowed Linda to endure this sort of pain without having a bigger plan. I know she can beat this - but they need EVERYONE that can help to do so.
On behalf of my parents, I beg of you to keep them in your prayers. Any assistance that can provided will be humbly accepted, and will be cherished more than words can describe. The money will be used for clothing, food, a home for them to go home to, and the long term care and rehabilitation that Linda will likely require for the rest of her life.
I have never made a request of this nature before - and it breaks my heart that I am doing it on behalf of my parents. But I would not send out this request if it wasn't necessary. I pray God touches each person who reads this, and will help in any means possible.
Thank you all for the continued prayers and love that has been shown since that horrific night. It has put many things into perspective - one moment you're living your life - and the next moment you could be fighting for it.
Please reshare this link and spread the word to anybody who may be able to assist them during such a difficult time.
May God Bless all who read this. Thank you all in advance for your generosity and continued prayers.
Organizer
Michelle Hope
Organizer
Mount Orab, OH