PATIENT STORY TURNING TRAUMA INTO A FORCE FOR GOOD Inspired by his care at the Firefighters Burn Center, Aiden Neldon refused to let his injuries define him. Aiden Neldon was just 18 when his life changed in an instant. While working as an electrician’s apprentice, a serious accident left him with third degree burns over nearly half his body. It would be easy to define “changed” by his severe injuries, multiple surgeries, or the scars he sees every day. However, that would miss the point of what truly changed for Aiden, and how he is turning the hardest experience of his life into a force for good. Aiden said the care he received at Regional One Health’s Firefighters Burn Center inspired him to consider a career in medicine. “It changed my whole mindset. I’d love to work with burn patients. I’ve been through it, and I know what to expect – maybe I can help somebody else.” Aiden was in the first year of his apprenticeship in Jonesboro, Arkansas in January 2024 when he went to work with one of the factory’s master electricians. “It’s funny, because it was snowing outside, so I actually didn’t have to go to work that day,” he remembers. To donate scan the QR Code Eager to learn, he went anyway. The day began with routine tasks before the men went up to the ceiling to work on a busbar, a main electricity source that powers the factory floor. The routine suddenly turned traumatic when the busbar exploded right next to Aiden: “When it flashes like that, it burns you from the inside to the outside,” he said. “It burned all my clothes off. I was on fire for a couple minutes.” First responders took Aiden to the Firefighters Burn Center, the only full-service burn center verified by the American Burn Association in a 200-mile radius of Memphis. Thanks to generous donors and the Regional One Health Foundation, the burn center is ready 24/7 with a specialized multidisciplinary team and elite resources dedicated to the care of burn patients’ unique needs. “I remember being in the hydro room where they clean your burns. They asked me a bunch of questions, and then they knocked me out. From there, the ICU is kind of a blur,” Aiden said. 16 2025 GRATITUDE REPORT
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