Kenyon Wallace, The StarPhoenix - Saskatoon

The last thing Denise Hurd remembers before suffering severe burns to her face, arms, legs and feet six years ago is being engulfed by giant blue flames from a faulty propane stove.

Hurd and a friend had just arrived at a campground on Greg Lake for a much-anticipated summer vacation. It was Aug. 31, 2001.

As an office employee at Points North Landing airport in northern Saskatchewan, Hurd had been working the grueling two-week-straight shift before being flown out for a week's break. As she and her friend, Murray, were getting ready to eat outside, it started to rain, so they began to move the food inside their camper. Murray fired up the built-in propane stove and left the burner on low.

A few minutes later, Hurd came in and as she turned up the burner, the stove and the air around her exploded. Only the skin covered by her shorts and T-shirt was protected.

"I was in total shock," recalls Hurd. "I didn't really know what was going on."

Some fellow campers drove Hurd towards Meadow Lake and called an ambulance which met them en route. Hurd was taken to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon where she was treated for severe burns to 40 per cent of her body. She underwent five skin graft surgeries and remained in intensive care for a month before being transferred to City Hospital where she remained for another four months.

An investigation by SGI revealed that there was a leak in the stove. When the burner was turned on, the camper had slowly filled with propane.

Hurd is remarkably positive about her experience.

The 50-year-old Saskatoon resident says she could choose to focus on the tragedy and feel sorry for herself, or choose to focus on the blessings that have come to her as a result of her ordeal.

"I don't look at the tragedy, I look at what I got out of it," Hurd says. "There are a lot of blessings. I've met a lot of great people since my accident and it has made me realize how precious life is."

But recovery wasn't easy. Hurd had to learn how to walk again. She had to learn how to use her hands again. She couldn't talk. The isolation was almost unbearable.

"I was totally depressed," she says. "I couldn't read or really do anything and I spent a lot of time just lying there. I remember for the longest time just being in total denial of what had happened to me."

Hurd says she didn't see her face for quite awhile so it was hard for her to connect with what had happened.

"When I finally looked at myself in the mirror, I asked 'Who is this person?' I didn't even recognize myself."

When the hospital asked Hurd to speak with another burn survivor to share her experience, she refused.

"I wouldn't do it because in my mind I was not a burn survivor. I had a hard time accepting this had happened ... I didn't need that."

Hurd says the hardest part of her recovery was the temporary loss of emotion caused by the plethora of drugs and painkillers she had to take. Her grandson was born just as she was leaving hospital, but she found it very difficult to be happy.

"I couldn't feel emotion and it made me very depressed," she says.

Hurd was only halfway through her recovery when she left hospital. She had to have her two baby fingers amputated because they were contracted so much that she couldn't use them.

The healing skin on her face was becoming so tight that she couldn't open her mouth so she needed two more surgeries. It was another year and a half before she had the strength to return to work as a doctor's secretary in the Broadway area.

Today, Hurd oozes positivity. She has a quiet confidence that comes from acceptance and hope. Her voice is soft and her lungs wheeze slightly when she breathes -- a result of damage inflicted to her airway by an intubation tube inserted down her throat for six weeks. She has scars on her feet, legs, arms and on the skin around her mouth.

Hurd credits her nurses, doctors, and family for her recovery.

"They went above and beyond many times to help me, not just physically but also emotionally," she says.

But the emotional battle is still there. Hurd doesn't look forward to the summer like most people.

"Summer is harder because my legs are very burned and I don't wear shorts anymore."

Over time, Hurd has become more comfortable with talking about her accident. In March, she spoke at the first annual burn care conference at Royal University Hospital.

She is speaking today at the Saskatchewan Professional Fire Fighters Association (SPFFA) Burn Fund Fundraising Barbecue at the Saskatoon Airport.

In October, the SPFFA Burn Fund is sponsoring Hurd's attendance at the World Burn Congress in Vancouver. The Congress provides workshops, networking opportunities and support for burn survivors from all over the world.

Hurd's message to other recovering burn survivors is to be patient and to use the support of people around you and look for strength from within.

"People stare but you have to remember that you're still you inside," she says. "Beauty comes from within."