The incredible journey of recovery for the father who saved his family from their burning home
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Etienne Basenge suffered second- and third-degree burns during an explosion at his Dartmouth, N.S., home. (Submitted by Etienne Basenge)
Two months after Etienne Basenge raced up two flights of stairs in a burning Dartmouth, N.S., townhouse to save his young family, walking with a cane is exhausting.
Major burns to his legs, feet, hands, arms and face have left him covered in painful scars. They're lasting reminders of how on the night of Dec. 8 he turned on the furnace and accidentally ignited fumes from a gasoline can, setting off a fiery explosion.
"I heard something like — pooh! I was like unconscious, like 10 seconds. Then I run up here," Basenge, 31, said this week as he stood in the bedroom of an identical townhouse where the family's been staying, just doors down from the scene of the fire.
He remembers the window in his son's second-storey bedroom was blown out. He tossed out a small mattress, then pushed his middle child, Roger, through the window before he, his wife Assinath Muhindo, and two other kids jumped to safety into the frigid night.
Basenge spent about a month bedridden in hospital with second- and third-degree burns. He was discharged in early January and is on the road to recovery, inspiring his doctor and other health-care staff at the Halifax Infirmary with his stamina.
Basenge posed with family and staff at the Halifax Infirmary burn unit when he was discharged on Jan. 7. (Submitted by Etienne Basenge)
It's not the first hardship he's faced. Basenge and his family came to Canada after fleeing civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A year ago, he was in a serious car accident.
Even so, he thanks "God very much because even though this happened I believe, as a Christian, that it was someone else there to help us."
He also downplays his own role is helping to get his family out alive from their burning townhouse. He acted quickly in those frantic moments — "it was like kind of war, fighting with them" to get everyone outside.
He remembers calling for his daughter Divine, 9, but she was so terrified during the chaos that she tried to hide. Two of the children suffered broken arms. Many people, he said, can't believe the kids jumped from such a height and had no serious injuries.
Basenge is seen by Dr. Martin LeBlanc, a plastic surgeon, at a checkup on Tuesday. (Elizabeth Chiu/CBC)
Basenge still returns to the hospital for appointments with a small team of specialists, including plastic surgeon Dr. Martin LeBlanc. He said Basenge is "lucky with his bad luck" in that the deepest burns were small, making skin grafts unnecessary.
"He's very strong and even though he does have some discomfort on many occasions, he keeps struggling through it and keeps working at it," LeBlanc said after a checkup Tuesday at the hospital.
With youth and health on his side, LeBlanc expects Basenge to make a full recovery. "It's such a positive story and a story of survival, basically."
Basenge's recovery will also require months of work with occupational therapists and physiotherapists. The concern is that deep scarring could cause tightening around his joints, restricting his ability to move.
'He's been a great source of inspiration'
When he stops by the fourth-floor burn unit nursing station at the Halifax Infirmary, he's greeted with warm hellos.
"He's been a great source of inspiration to us all," said occupational therapist Denise Johnston.
Johnston is working with Basenge to get his hands and feet moving normally again. She gets him to flex his ankles and wrists, and tighten his hands into fists. She also measures him for compression garments supplied by the Nova Scotia Firefighters and Burn Treatment Society.
She said it's a "honour" to work with someone with such a positive attitude in the face of great adversities in his life. "Etienne's doing great."
Basenge spent a month in hospital recovering from his injuries. (Submitted by Etienne Basenge)
But Basenge's recovery recently had a setback. He took a tumble down the stairs and now the family is on the move again.
On Wednesday, the family moved out of the townhouse where they've been staying and into a one-floor apartment near downtown Dartmouth.
What was left of the townhouse that caught fire has been demolished — there's now a big gap between the other rowhouses on the block.
"You're familiar with the community, the people, and then you move is a big challenge," Basenge said.
Immediately after the fire, neighbours rallied around the family with help and donations.
"We miss here, we have good neighbours here," Basenge said with a deep sigh. "We miss them very much."
But, despite everything, he's looking forward with gratitude and hope.
"Here was a wonderful place for my kids," said Basenge. "Maybe after one year we'll see if we can move back here."
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