Dave's Story

Tragedy to Triumph Foundation was created by David Schury, a 34 year employee of Commonwealth Edison, the electric company for the City of Chicago. Mr. Schury has spent 29 years as an area operator for the Illinois power company, but it was an event that happened while doing that job on April 13, 2000, that changed his life forever and led to the creation of the Foundation. 

While working at a substation in Chicago, a rat short-circuited a 12,000-volt piece of equipment, causing an explosion. Within the blink of an eye, Mr. Schury suffered burns to 30 percent of his body, forcing him to spend the next two weeks fighting for his life in the burn unit at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital.
 
Shortly after recovering, Mr. Schury heard about a camp for child burn survivors called “Camp I Am Me.” As soon as he could, Mr. Schury volunteered to be a counselor at the camp. The annual week-long camp, sponsored by the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance, serves young burn survivors ages 8-16 in providing them with a friendly, comfortable environment where they can receive support and build friendships with others like themselves. Initially, it was very emotional to see young people with such severe burns and scars, but Mr. Schury has since spent one week each summer helping the kids reconnect with life in a healing environment. The summer of 2010 was his 10th year as a volunteer counselor.

It was also at Camp I Am Me where he met Barry Bennett, a social worker for Loyola Hospital’s Burn Center. In 2001, Barry told Mr. Schury about the Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery (SOAR) program that was being implemented at the hospital. The Phoenix Society-developed program for peer support connects those who have survived at least a year after being burned with those currently patients in the burn center.

Since 2002, Mr. Schury and his wife, Michele, have worked with burn survivors and their families within the SOAR program, offering their experiences and support to the survivors and their families, helping them through these traumatic events in any way they possibly can. It is one thing for a doctor to tell someone they will recover but it is something entirely different for people like Mr. Schury and his wife, who have been through what the patients are going through, to provide support and assure the patient that he or she will indeed recover. This important component of support during recovery was something that Mr. Schury and his wife never received when he was burned, so they vowed to never let anyone go through that experience alone.

The Tragedy to Triumph Foundation is the direct result of the commitment of Mr. and Mrs. Schury to provide this vital and often missing component of post-burn care not only for the survivor, but for his or her spouse or significant other and family.

In 2009, Mr. Schury received a Jefferson Award, which is given to those who have done outstanding volunteer work in their community. Through receiving the award, he was invited to and attended the national awards ceremony in Washington D.C. There, he met many other individuals who have done wonderful things and he and his wife became inspired to do even more to help burn survivors. They are putting their inspiration into action through the establishment of this Foundation.

In addition to providing emotional and other support to burn survivors and their families, From Tragedy to Triumph will strive to provide financial support through scholarships to young people, once traumatized by burn injuries, so they may pursue collegiate education. The Foundation has developed a sound business plan to provide its services initially on a state-wide basis and grow into a regional and then national service provider. With the benefit that designation as a 501(c)(3) organization can lend to fund-raising, we are anxious and prepared to provide this most valuable and lacking support to burn survivors.

 

 

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