A man who survived severe burns recounted how, at the age of 6, he saw his face reflected in his father’s glasses — a moment that changed his life.

Terry McCarthy’s story began with tragedy: at the age of six, he suffered burns to 73% of his skin after his brothers accidentally knocked over a bowl of kerosene on him. His father couldn’t even touch the child — so severe were his injuries. Terry spent a year in the hospital, underwent numerous operations and treatments, and returning to school was a new challenge. The loss of his father in his teens only intensified his feelings of loneliness and insecurity.

Despite what he had been through, at the age of twenty, Terry decided to become a volunteer firefighter. The physical tests were difficult, and the academy itself inevitably forced him to face his fear of fire again. But it was precisely working with fire that unexpectedly helped him overcome the trauma of his past — he proved to himself that he could face what had once nearly taken his life.

Over time, McCarthy realized that his path lay in a different direction. He left the fire service and devoted himself to working for non-profit organizations that support children with burns. Terry admits that he sometimes misses the fire alarm, but his new mission seems much more important to him: now he helps those who are going through what he himself once experienced.