A Georgia mom faces $2 million in medical debt with no income after her husband abandoned her and her daughter following a campfire accident that left the mother with severe burns on her face and body.
Courtney Waldon, 27, of Tallapoosa, was maimed when her husband poured gas on a campfire and she was engulfed in the flames.
“When he put the gas on it, the fire shot up and next thing I know I was in gold shivering flames,” Waldon told Barcroft.
“I was just going crazy. I did just stop, drop and rolled and screamed. I didn’t know what to do so I ran towards the water hose,” she recalled.
She spent 51 days recovering in an ICU burn unit. Her husband left her shortly after she was released.
Waldon has made tremendous strides since the tragic ordeal, but still has limited mobility in her hands. She’s had to relearn simple tasks, like how to feed herself.
Waldon fears she’ll never be able to return to work and was forced to give up her home so that she could pay off her bills and support her 5-year-old daughter, Caroline.
But she did find solace in her local church — which pitched in to buy her a new home on her family’s land.
“I believe that the home is going to not only give a peace of mind to but it’s one less thing to worry about as she is moving to her rehabilitation,” said Pastor Jon Ellis, 43, from Refuge Ministries of West Georgia.
“She can spend time dreaming about what she is going to be and where she wants to go in life and not have to worry about paying bills,” he added.
Waldon is making progress every day and is working with a physical therapist. She’s also gotten better at ignoring unwanted attention.
“I get stared at constantly like I am a monster. People just make rude comments. But it’s okay. I am stronger than they are. I get through it,” she said.
“I have been managing to get my life back by just pushing to make myself better and stronger for myself and my daughter,” she added.
Waldon hopes her story will inspire others in traumatic situations to have the courage to get back up on their feet.
Luckily, Waldon has the support of her community and her mother, Karen Cosper, who started a GoFundMe page to help her raise money to pay for her mounting medical bills. The page is just a few thousand dollars short of Cosper’s $40,000 goal.
