Spring 08
Vol. 15/ No. 1

Michael Nolte
Burn patient

Someone dies in an automobile wreck every 12 minutes in the United States, and someone is injured every 12 seconds.

For Missouri highway patrolman Micheal Newton and myself, both happened in 1.8 seconds.

This is how quickly the flames fully engulfed the patrol car we were sitting in when it was struck from behind on the shoulder of Interstate 70.

A trucker with his leg on the dash, bent down for sunglasses and slammed into the rear of the car.

The car exploded and was engulfed in fire. The interior temperatures reached 2,500 degrees in three seconds. The young trooper burned to death. I was rescued by two strangers 15 seconds before I would have suffered the same fate.

The coroner listed the trooper's cause of death as "live cremation." And though I was pulled from the inferno ablaze, I was critically burned.

I suffered third and fourth degree burns over 40 percent of my body and spent more than two months in University Hospital 's burn center, 100 miles from my Kansas City home. I endured eight operations to transplant new skin onto my wounds.

With the support of my wife of 25 years, Barbie, our three young daughters and the prayers of people across the nation, I returned to work after 15 months of grueling rehabilitation.

My survival included incredible pain for months; healing, physical and psychological, will take years. I lived, but so many times I wished I hadn't.

An 8-foot, white cross rises from the narrow strip of fescue at Mile Marker 47 where the trooper burned to death and I was scarred for life.

I wrote a book, Burned But Not Broken, about my flat-lined, near-death experience during my life flight to the hospital, the excruciating process of debridement and the avalanche of survivor's guilt that led to my mental breakdown.

After living through the civil trial, I was finally allowed to meet the men who saved my life, visit the mother, widow and son of the trooper and interface with the man who caused the wreck.

Once I had been the man whom many considered the "go-to-guy." But after the accident, my life became one of complete dependency.

I hope my story is one of courage, inspiration and hope for both individuals who suffer catastrophic injury and the families that loves them. I tried to blend my rehabilitation with my faith journey in a way that brings the spiritual and the secular components of all our lives into beautiful balance.

I had complete determination and a profound commitment to return to fullness of life. After more than 25 years of enjoying a life I created for myself (or so I thought), this experience made me search for purpose in living my second life.

As a result of the wreck, Congress passed the “Pass With Care” law requiring motorists to move over when they see flashing lights on the shoulder, thus preventing untold numbers of similar tragedies.

Michael and his wife Barbie, BSN '80 are the 2008 guest speakers for Student Nurses Week. After speaking at 2:30 p.m. in the School of Medicine 's M105 Bryant Auditorium, the School will honor this couple at a reception in the School's main lobby. The Noltes will also be conducting a book signing during that time.

~this was an excerpt from Michael Nolte's
book, Burned But Not Broken