Heidi Cave recalls her struggles to recover from injuries from a car wreck in 1998 in British Columbia.

August 30, 2006 - Heidi Cave lost part of her legs, but not her hope. Cave was 23 years old in 1998 when the car she was driving was hit so hard that it tumbled into a ravine, caught fire and killed her friend sitting in the passenger’s seat.

Eight years later, Cave told IAFF Convention delegates that she decided soon after the horrific wreck in British Columbia that she would not let it rob her life of enjoyment. Cave spoke to raise awareness about the IAFF Burn Foundation, the largest and most respected non-governmental source for burn research grants.

Cave was burned over 52 percent of her body, endured 20 surgeries and ultimately had both legs amputated below her knees because they were so badly burned. “This was the life I had now. What was I going to do with it?” she said. “I fought not to shut down. I fought to live again.”

Cave doesn’t hide her disability or her story. Instead, she uses it to help others find hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

“Heidi Cave is one of the most courageous people you’ll ever meet,” IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger said.

She even pokes fun at herself. “Yes I’m seriously scarred and I don’t have feet, but whatever,” she said.

Reaching a point in her life where she can use her story to inspire others took some work, she admits. Before fire fighters reached her, she was dangling upside down and her flesh was ablaze.

“I was trapped and I was on fire,” she recounted.

She was unconscious for two weeks and spent 12 months in hospitals, where she relied on morphine, television and visits from friends.

“It was the darkest moment of my life,” she said. “But in that darkness there was hope.” She said she simply made a choice to live a fulfilling life — and help others by sharing her story.

“My story is about hope,” she said.

Since the car accident that nearly claimed her life, Cave has married and has two children.

“I learned it gets better.”

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