Fifteen years have passed since Spencer Beach almost died in a flash fire that left him with third- and fourth-degree burns over 90 per cent of his body.
On April 24, 2003, Beach was at work when the chemical he was using to remove vinyl flooring in a new house ignited.
What he remembers most was, once he was out of the house, how swollen his lips felt.
"It felt like a million bees had stung them."
It was other people's skin that saved his life, Beach said on CBC Radio's Edmonton AM Friday, on National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week.
Many people recognize the importance of donated organs but skin tissue can be life-saving for burn patients.
"I honestly don't think I would have made it without this," he said.
How it works
Since patients with large, open wounds are at a high risk of infection, doctors use donated skin as a temporary covering until patients are able to grow enough of their own skin, said Peter Kwan, a pediatric and adult burn surgeon at the University of Alberta Hospital.
"For patients who have very large burns, typically over 50 per cent of their body, we don't have enough of their own skin to move around and completely cover or close those wounds," Kwan said.
"It's very much life-saving," he said.
Kwan was not Beach's primary doctor in 2003, but was involved in his care as a resident at the time.
Donated skin can be harvested up to 24 hours after a death. It's taken from areas that would usually be covered by clothes, including the back, stomach and legs.
Skin donations rising, more needed
According to Sharman Hnatiuk, a spokesperson for Alberta Health Services, both the number of skin donors and the quantity of skin distributed is rising in the Edmonton area.
In 2017, there was a 28-per-cent increase in skin donors and a 20-per-cent increase in the amount of skin distributed. People donated more than 500 sections of skin in 2017.
The need for skin donations is constant because fresh skin is preferable to frozen.
The burn unit at the University of Alberta Hospital sees the worst burn cases in Western Canada and it relies on donor tissue from people in Edmonton and other areas if necessary.
How to donate
Albertans can register their intent to donate through the Alberta Organ and Tissue Donation Registry here. They can also do so when renewing their driver's licenses.
AHS recommends talking with family members about donation plans.