’99 crash victim’s family gives burn unit $700,000

Charles Fuller hugs Sharon Harris, a nurse who cared for his daughter Rachel, 14 (shown in photograph), after she was brought in with burns she suffered in the crash of American Airlines Flight 1420 at Little Rock National Airport in 1999. Rachel later died from her injuries. Charles and Cindy Fuller made a donation Tuesday to Arkansas Children's Hospital to honor their daughter and those who treated her at the ACH Burn Center in Little Rock.
Charles Fuller hugs Sharon Harris, a nurse who cared for his daughter Rachel, 14 (shown in photograph), after she was brought in with burns she suffered in the crash of American Airlines Flight 1420 at Little Rock National Airport in 1999. Rachel later died from her injuries. Charles and Cindy Fuller made a donation Tuesday to Arkansas Children's Hospital to honor their daughter and those who treated her at the ACH Burn Center in Little Rock.

For two weeks, she lay in the Burn Center at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the youngest victim of the 1999 American Airlines Flight 1420 crash.

Rachel Fuller, only 14, was among the most gravely injured, suffering second- and third-degree burns that covered 60 percent of her body.

Rachel died on June 16, 1999.

Yellow roses covered her coffin. Mourners remembered a girl who was such a talented oboe player that a spot in an all-brass band had been created just for her. Rachel also sang in the First Baptist Church choir in Arkadelphia. Her eighth-grade report card, on display at the service, showed her to be a straight-A student.

At the funeral, Rob Hewell of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention said this of Rachel: “This is a story of a life too short, but lived well. We won’t write an end to this story because it hasn’t ended.”

And, indeed, Rachel’s story resumed Tuesday, when her parents’ gift of $700,000 to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Foundation created the Rachel Fuller Endowed Chair in Burn.

The foundation, in turn, added $300,000 to the Fullers’ donation, which resulted in a $1 million endowed chair for the hospital’s Burn Center, where Rachel spent the last days of her life.

“With this gift, we want to honor Rachel and help the hundreds of children and adults treated in the ACH Burn Center each year,” said Rachel’s father, Charles Fuller.

“Despite our outcome, we knew our daughter was receiving the best care in the world. We want to ensure that every family receives the same level of care and support.”

In the days after the plane crash, which led to the deaths of 11 people, Charles and Cindy Fuller received phone calls from both a cousin and a family friend.

One suggested transferring Rachel to Dallas; the other recommended Houston.

But the Fullers remained convinced that their daughter was in the right hands at Arkansas Children’s.

At one point, the cousin called again, this time to say that after talking to people in the medical profession,he had realized that Rachel already was “getting the best care she can get.”

The Fullers’ donation coincides with the Burn Center’s 60th anniversary. It was made possible by a “match program” created by the foundation’s board of directors that allows the foundation to bolster specific types of donations.

“This is a gift with long range vision,” said Jonathan Bates, president and chief executive officer of the hospital.

The Burn Center at Arkansas Children’s is the only one in the state and treats adults as well as children.

It has been recognized nationally for several of its practices. One such practice involves having three anesthesiologists dedicated to the center and its patients.

These anesthesiologists are on hand every day to sedate patients during routine bathing and bandage changes. Because of this readily available sedation, a patient’s daily care is no longer the intensely painful and traumatic experience it once was.

People who were treated in the 1950s and 1960s often come to the Burn Center for scar revision or other treatment, one anesthesiologist said Tuesday, adding that fear is etched in many faces because these patients remember just how much even the most routine procedures hurt. Now those being treated are completely sedated and unaware of not only any pain but also what is going on around them.

The Burn Center also uses telemedicine, allowing doctors from all over the state to consult with Arkansas Children’s on their burn patients, many of whom will end up being admitted to the center.

The hospital offered a tour of its Burn Center after Tuesday’s announcement of the Fullers’ donation. Staff members eagerly showed off a heated treatment room, where each patient is bathed and cared for daily. The room is kept warm because burned skin cannot regulate a patient’s temperature.

Many times, the room’s temperature hovers at 95 degrees while medical staff, cloaked in masks and plastic gowns, attend to patients.

The center treats more than 400 severe burns - those requiring hospital admission - each year. Meanwhile, its outpatient clinic cares for about 2,250 patients annually.

One-third of the Burn Center’s patients are children.

In 2012, the youngest patient treated there was 2 months old. The oldest was 96.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/24/2013

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