When we begin a new year there are certain guarantees.
Some of will be resting after a night of partying and fun. We will all begin to
make our New Year’s resolutions a reality. Also one current ESPN “Sportscenter”
anchor and one former “Sportscenter” anchor will be broadcasting the Tournament
of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).
This particular parade was very special not because of the amazing floats and
bands that were in the parade, but that one of the broadcasters was making her
first appearance on television since early December.
This past Tuesday, ESPN’s “Sportscenter” anchor Hannah Storm was alongside Good Morning America news anchor and former “Sportscenter” anchor Josh Elliott for the 124 Tournament of Roses Parade on ABC for the fifth consecutive year.
This was very special reunion because back on Dec. 11 Storm, who is known for her high profile interviews of the likes of New York Jets backup quarterback Tim Tebow sustained first and second degree burns on her neck, face, chest and her left hand from her propane gas grill when she was cooking dinner outside at her Connecticut home for her husband NBC sportscaster Dan Hicks and her three daughters-15-year-old Hannah, 14-year-old Ellery and 11-year-old Riley.
Along with the burns that she sustained in the accident, she also lost nearly half her hair as well as her eyebrows and eyelashes.
The cover of the grill was open and Storm came to the logical assumption that there was no gas in the air.
What Storm told Muir on Tuesday is that propane is much heavier than air, especially in cold weather. It has the tendency to set on top of the grill and cool inside of it and underneath the grill.
The moment Storm reignite the grill after the flame
was out a huge explosion occurred with so much force that it blew the doors of
the grill completely off.
The explosion was so loud that a neighbor across the street thought a tree had fallen through his roof. In that split second, Storm’s hair, chest and the shirt that she was wearing caught on fire.
She did not know what to do, so her first instinct was to take her left hand, reached for her shirt to get it off as quickly as possible.
“I yelled inside to my 15-year-old daughter [Hannah} who was in the kitchen, “Mommy’s on fire. You have to call 9-1-1,” Storm said to Muir.
She quickly came out, got her cell phone and called 9-1-1.
Storm was taken to and treated at Westchester Medical
Center in Westchester, NY. During Tuesday’s telecast of the parade she thanked
everyone from the Trauma and Burn Center who treated her.
In the days that followed she received numbers of calls, text messages, e-mails, tweets and other supportive messages from the likes of Tennis star Mardy Fish, ESPN colleagues like college basketball color analyst Dick Vitale, “Baseball Tonight” and Major League Baseball analyst John Kruk, and the Rev. John Jenkins, president of her alma mater Notre Dame.
You are probably wondering how someone who went through that kind of ordeal could be back to do a broadcast.
Storm said to David Muir on Tuesday evening’s edition of ABC “World News” with Diane Sawyer that she had access to hair and makeup people that can prep her and it can look like all was okay. She looked amazing as she always does, but her left hand was noticeably wrapped.”
“I spent an hour in hair and makeup this morning,” Storm told Muir on Tuesday. “This is all fake hair. When the makeup artist brushed an eyebrow on me I almost stood up and kissed her this morning.”
While she was back doing what she loves to do, she was the first to point out that despite being back at work doing what she has done for the past five years on New Year’s Day, she is far from being back to normal.
The explosion has left some serious red marks on her skin from the neck up. Doctors have even told her she has to keep the most serious burned areas out of direct sunlight for the next six months. On top of that doing the most common things like taking a shower or getting dressed she said are difficult. She had some trouble turning pages on her script or even taking notes because she is left handed.
“I was very disfigured,” Storm, who was not able to see the aftermath of the ordeal she went through until the next day. “Without eyelashes, eyebrows it was a sight to behold let me tell you.”
Having her husband, who according to an article from www.huffingtonpost.com said he rearranged his whole schedule to stay home during her recovery and having her three daughters with her in California has help in her recovery.
"It was good that the girls got to see mommy doing what she usually does. Being on TV, being on the set, that brings a sense of normalcy," Storm said. "I could be myself today, just talking and reacting to what I saw. It was a very familiar place."
It was even heartwarming that Muir during his interview with Storm on Tuesday said to her, “You look as beautiful as ever.”
For most people a moment like this would break them to a point where they would want to run and hide until they fully recovered. Storm has decided to turn something that could have been much worse into an opportunity to talk about how to operate a propane grill safely and how to move forward from being a burn victim.
She told Muir that if you light your grill, but the lighter did not ignite for any reason, the chances are pretty good that there is a lot of propane still sitting in the area. Just turning off the grill and relighting your grill is not sufficient enough. You must wait for a long period of time for all the propane to dissipate before trying to reignite your grill.
As far as returning to work on “Sportscenter,” Storm said she will wait and see. She had hoped to return tomorrow, but wants to see how this upcoming week goes and after that she will make her decision.
Whether we see her soon or a little later the fact that she is okay and that her family is there for her is a comforting feeling. It is moments like this that make all of us thankful for the little things and to never take the simple things for granted and the importance of safety, especially when dealing when dealing with cooking appliances.
Information and quotations are courtesy of 1/1/12 6:30 p.m. edition of ABC “World News” with Diane Sawyer: substitute anchor David Muir; www.huffingtonpost.com article, “Hannah Storm Hosts Rose Parade Show: ESPN Anchor Returns, Talks Propane Gas Grill Accident.”
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