Jim Lawson’s scars are barely noticeable, but he knows they are there. The back of his left ear is missing. The scars on his hand are almost invisible. His hands once looked like melting latex gloves.

Lawson, a motivational speaker and district manager for 14 Brendan Diamonds stores in Phoenix and Las Vegas, was burned 20 years ago in a jet fuel explosion.

Now married with two daughters and involved in the Foundation for Burns and Trauma Center in Phoenix, Lawson, 46, has overcome his adversity and inspires burn survivors around the world by talking with them and helping them face the real world.

At one of the largest burn survivor events in Phoenix, the World Burn Congress, Lawson spoke to a group of 500 survivors and gave out his phone number.

“Every day I change my answering machine with an inspirational message,” Lawson said. “I get calls from all over the world with people saying if they ever get down they just call my number and get motivated.”

From messages like “Have you lived today the way you want to?” to “If something doesn’t seem right, change it,” Lawson lives out those messages and wakes up every day thanking the Lord for his life.

“When you knock on death’s door you see the real meaning of life,” he said.

“That is to be able to wake up the next morning and to breathe.  To be able to feel and to see and to hear—that is the true meaning of life.”

Paula Butler, manager of Brendan Diamonds at Chandler Fashion Center in Chandler and an employer of Lawson’s, said his attitude about life inspires her.

“He is so outgoing and personable,” Butler said. “It’s amazing that someone can come out of tragedy like that and be so positive.”

There are a few scars on his face. The thickness of his mustache and hair look healthy and shiny. But before his 29 reconstructive surgeries, his chin was melted into his chest.  His nose was completely missing and 80 percent of his body was covered with deep flesh and third-degree burns.

Like 50 percent of all burn accidents, Lawson’s could have been prevented. On Dec. 1, 1984, the Air Force in Cleveland used stainless steel funnels to test fuel in planes instead of the glass funnels. The Air Force believed the stainless steel would be less dangerous.

At 25, Lawson was in the Air Force. He looked into the funnel that day and the jet fuel exploded. He became a ball of fire.

“I didn’t know I was on fire because I covered my eyes,” Lawson said. “I crawled over to the shower and my fellow co-workers helped me.”

According to the Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation, approximately 2.4 million burn injuries are reported each year. This report said that burn injuries are the second leading cause of accidental death, next to motorcycle deaths. As reported by the Arizona Burn Center at Maricopa Medical Center in 2001, the most common places burn accidents occur were in the home, street/highway accidents and other causes.

His wife Lorri Lawson, 39, who met him through a mutual friend after his burn, was able to see past his scars and fell in love with his caring and compassionate personality.

“When I first met him he just got finished with his nose surgery,” Lorri said. “His hair was thinner and he had many more scars on his face. I didn’t feel uncomfortable around him. He had a great personality.”

Lorri added that they became close friends after three months. He was respectful to others and also romantic. He had many qualities that made his stand out from other men she had dated.

Lawson said he fell in love with Lorri’s dynamic personality. She loved him and accepted him the way he was.

“She got me out on dates,” he said. “Then it got to the point where she was telling me she would only go out with me if I got rid of my sunglasses and long sleeve shirts.”

For their 15th anniversary Lawson surprised Lorri with a suite in San Francisco.  In the room were a dozen roses and rose petals on her bed.

“What kind of guy does that stuff,” Lorri said. “That is the way he is.  Incredibly passionate.   I have a lot of respect for him.”

Lorri added that Lawson is a great father to their 4-year-old and 13-year-old daughters.

“The girls love daddy,” Lorri said. “They know about his burn, but they never ask questions or think anything about it.”

At one point in his life, Lawson thought he would never be married or have children.

“My face looked like one big blob,” he said. “The first day I ever saw my face I remember thinking—Oh my god, I’m going to look like a freak forever,” Lawson said.

Forever did not last.  Surgeons used his natural skin to cover the burn scars in a technique called grafting.  In grafting, surgeons cut around and under the lesion with a scalpel and sharp scissors so that it is completely removed.   Then the dermatologist measures the area of the wound to know what size to make the skin graft.  A piece of skin is shaved or cut from another part of the body (e.g. leg or arm) that is large enough to cover the wound. When possible, skin of similar thickness and color is selected.   The natural skin used then turns into second-degree burns.  The skin graft covers the wound and attaches itself to the cells beneath. Without a graft, the area would be an open wound and take much longer to heal. The initial stage of graft healing occurs within the first 24-48 hours after the placement of the graft.

The skin on the back of Lawson’s left ear was used to create his nose. In two years, nine of the 29 surgeries were done on his neck.

Dr. Daniel Caruso, a burn care specialist and director of the Arizona Burn Center at Maricopa Medical Center, said if 90 percent of the body is burned, victims go through an average of 15-20 surgeries.

Caruso said burns affect the skin. The skin is the body’s largest organ, covering the entire body. In addition to serving as a protective shield against heat, light, injury and infection, the skin also regulates body temperature, stores water and fat, prevents water loss and is a sensory organ. Without the barrier of skin between internal organs and the environment, burn survivors are more susceptible to infections, according to Caruso.

The type of burn also affects the recovery process, according to Caruso. While first-degree burns, such as sunburns, affect only the top layer of the skin, known as the epidermis, the most serious burns, third-degree burns, affect the deeper layer called the dermis. The dermis is the middle layer of the skin and contains blood vessels, sweat glands, hair follicles and nerve endings. Third-degree burns are so deep that only the edges will heal and scars will eventually cover the rest of the burned area unless skin grafting is done.

The skin of third-degree burns may be white, or it may be black and leathery. There may be little pain in the burned area, but the areas surrounding the burn may be quite painful, according to Caruso.

 Caruso said when burn survivors first come in to the hospital it is his primary goal as a medical specialist to keep them alive. He does this by placing IVs all over the body to provide fluids and help prevent infections. He also treats the many respiratory and airway problems caused by smoke. Caruso has seen many patients die in his 12 years of practice.

“It bothers me to see patients die,” he added, “But you have to focus on the ones who make it. Sometimes the burns are so severe you have to think it’s better that way.”

According to the Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation, between 8,000-12,000 burn patients die each year in the United States. Approximately one million will sustain substantial or permanent disabilities resulting from the burn injury.

In Lawson’s case the hospital predicted he would live 48 hours after his burn.

“I had tubes in my nose feeding me; I was wrapped up like a mummy,” Lawson said. “At that point my body was just trying to take care of itself.”

During his recovery he went through three scrub sessions a day for three weeks.

“They (hospital nurses) took a scrub brush and scrubbed away at the burns,” Lawson said. “I would scream ungodly.”

Scrub sessions protect organs from being attacked and prevent infections, Caruso said.

Lawson was treated with morphine, but he said it did not help much with the excruciating pain.

Through better technology, Caruso said severely burned patients are put into an induced coma so they cannot feel the pain. Though there have been many improvements, methods like scrub sessions are commonly used, Caruso said. He added that many of the drugs and cream medications are much better today. Also, skin synthetics are used to cover burned skin.

Lawson said prayer and support helped him survive.

“My family and friends came to my rescue,” he added. “In times of tragedy they are the ones who are there for you.”

Lawson was lucky enough to have supportive people in his life to encourage him.  They were there for him through his suffering. At one point in his life he wanted to give up.

“With all the surgeries I had to go through I told my dad I was calling it quits,” Lawson said.

His father and biggest hero did not let him quit. While in the hospital, Lawson received hundreds of letters and cards from people all over the world.

“My father handed me an AT&T card and said ‘You can quit, but if you do, you need to call all 220 people who wrote you and explain to them that you are quitting.’  From that point on I never thought about quitting again,” Lawson said.

He also used humor to cope with his deformed body while in the hospital.

“We (burn survivors) would play Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and walk around the hospital like the mummies in the music video,” he added, laughing.

After nine weeks of intensive care, on New Year’s Eve, Lawson was released from the hospital.

“When we reached the first stop light I was in tears,” Lawson said. “Who knew I was ever going to see a stop light again.”

He faced the world with a new mentality and spirituality.

“I have always been a positive person and pretty spiritual,” he said. “But after my burn I had a reconnection with my spirituality. Prayer is what helped me survive in the hospital.”

People stared at him, but he remained strong with positive thinking.

“People stare and some people point,” Lawson said. “But who knows what they are thinking. They could be thinking—Wow I can’t imagine what that person has been through.”

He added that most people have adversity at some time in their life.

“When they see what you’ve been through, they realize that their own problems seem much smaller,” Lawson said.

Lawson, who had worked for retail as a young man, returned to the retail industry in 1986, two years after his burn. He moved to Arizona for his first job out of the hospital.  He worked for Estee Lauder, where he was introduced to facial make-up.

“I wanted to look as natural as possible,” he said. “I never thought I would look normal again.”

Today, the majority of Lawson’s scars are covered. His scaly hands look dry, but not burned.  His proportioned nose and round chin frame his blue eyes. He survived the first two stages of his burn, the actual burn and the battle of getting out of the hospital.  He is now and will be for the rest of his life in the third stage of surviving a burn: the mental stage.

Lawson’s past will always be a part of who he is, but he never lets that get in his way. 

“Every barrier is there because you put it there,” he said. “People ask me how I deal with my disability. I tell them I don’t have a disability.

He keeps in touch with burn survivors over the phone and meets them in person.  He added that he tries to meet survivors somewhere in public so they can get used to going out.

“Life doesn’t stop,” Lawson said. “You have to get back into the mainstream of life.”

Lawson will look you straight in the eye and tell you his goals. He wants to help people.

“I want to take people who have been through a burn and help them talk about it and get them back into the world,” Lawson said. “If I get one person to believe in their talents, then I’ve given back to humanity.”

His biggest reward is helping people with their adversity and knowing that he’s helped them overcome challenges.

“Shining light on someone is better than winning the lottery,” he said.

He also volunteers and organized various charity events for burn survivors. 

“I’m a busy man, but I appreciate every moment,” Lawson said. “There’s so much to life. The best thing I can ever do is to give back.”

The invisible scars on his face, torso and back reflect a past he can no longer see in the mirror.  Each day is a new blessing for Lawson.

“God it’s good to be alive!” Lawson said.