PHOENIX — Sunburns and hydration are typically the warnings that go out when summertime temperatures approach in the Valley, but the Halle Arizona Burn Center wants people to consider another danger during the summer months.
A Valley man is telling his story to help others realize there are real and present dangers in the summer sun.
“Frequent nightmares; I kept having nightmares, seeing my face going down to the rocks,” said Robert Woolley. “It's traumatic, both physically and psychologically.”
The burn scars on Woolley’s arm, hands, shoulder, and leg weren’t received during his time as a fighter pilot during Operation Desert Storm. They were from a simple fall he took in his backyard.
“I tried pushing up with my hands and it was so painful, I couldn't keep my hands in contact with the ground for an effectively long enough time to move. They just kept burning,” said Woolley.
On July 3, 2023, Woolley tripped in his backyard and fell onto the gravel landscaping. The rocks were so hot that they burned him as he tried to get up. First, his hands, made it impossible for him to push himself up. Then, his arm as he tried to reposition himself. At one point, Woolley tried to wiggle like a sidewinder until the burn on his leg became too much. That’s when exhaustion set in.
“I got so exhausted at one point in my struggle, I closed my eyes and I thought I'd take a short nap,” Woolley recalled. “The pain went away, and a voice in my head said, ‘If you go to sleep, you won't wake up.”
That was enough to snap Woolley awake and provide the strength he needed to maneuver to his back patio. He would later learn he suffered third-degree burns over 15% of his body, enduring weeks of agonizing recovery.
“The ordeal was extraordinarily painful,” Woolley said. “Changing the bandages every day felt like being skinned alive. It was almost unbearable.”
Those burns, known as contact burns, are unique to the Valley, according to the Halle Arizona Burn Center.
“There isn't any other place in the country that sees those types of burns,” said Dr. Kevin Foster, Director of the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center. “On a hot June afternoon, like we're going to see today, when the ambient temperatures are 110 degrees and you got direct sunlight, pavement surfaces can be 160 170 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not that far away from boiling. And really, it only takes just a fraction of a second to get a significant burn with surfaces that are that hot.”
In June of 2024, Arizona Burn Center admitted roughly 50 patients for contact burns from hot surfaces. During the pandemic, the average patients were senior females who were admitted for contact burns. Last summer, that demographic morphed to younger males abusing substances. This year, active senior men have made up the majority of the burn cases.
Woolley is still moving toward recovery months later.
“Fortunately, now almost a year later, I feel like I'm about 95% healed,” said Woolley. ”I’m looking forward to the day where it's just scars and memories, but I'm not quite there yet.”
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