Video Transcript:
Manuel’s Injury Story:
Growing up in Brownsville is great, I mean it’s still great. I come from a family of four, Two brothers, one sister, me as well. My parents, we’ve always been into family business. They run local groceries, bakeries, restaurants, so I mean growing up has always been a fast moving life but it’s been great. My dad was the one that taught us and ever since from there when I went to the business, started cooking there ; and then after I started doing my own things, then I started making up my own recipes, my own things, and I mean I just love cooking. I really do love it, but it’s a different experience now. Once Junior came along it was like a total different experience because now I wasn’t thinking about just two people, if not, it was about three people. I had a responsibility, I know I had to go work.
When I first got into the oil business was in 2010. I was working on a spill. It was hard because I had a job back at home and I was helping them out, but I mean for me it was just like a new experience and then I ended up loving it. I started working in tanking services 2018. I did all my classes, did all my training, and the first tank I went I was kind of scared because I was like “Oh wow we have to go inside the tank, actually clean out the crude oil squeegee out the crude oil. Diesel wash it or pressure wash it”. , everything that we had to do to it but throughout the whole course I ended up liking it more than what I thought I wasn’t going to like it.
We got hired to do a tank cleaning job down at Corpus. First day we got there we were scoping everything out, see where we have to set up. We spoke with every supervisor around there, our safety was our number one rule so we did everything by the books. Our people was on track, everything was good. We set up and did everything at the right way. That day of the incident, to me, it was a normal day. Waking up, had breakfast, wait for the guys to come out, we all drove to the tank. I was monitoring around the area we were working in. Everything was running, everything was good. Out of a sudden I heard like a little woosh sound so as I turned around to see what was going on. By the time that I knew it, there was an explosion. So I got on my left side at the beginning, after that I broke out bad; so when I realized that I was on fire, I put out my face first. After that, saw my whole body. I threw myself on the floor, I did stop drop and roll but saw that wasn’t helping so I got up. I saw there was mud and water so that’s where I threw myself again and I was able to put the fire out.
First thing that came to my mind was – How was my son going to be? How was he going to react? How was he going to take it if I didn’t make it? What was going to go on with his life if I wasn’t going to be here? – that’s when I was saying “no, I got to get up, I got to get out of here. I got to survive for my family” so that’s when I guess adrenaline kicked in or something that woke me up and got me up and got me moving. I tried to sprint but I couldn’t run because my legs are burned, so I was fast-pacing walking around the whole tank. As soon as I went around it, I saw everybody there in the front. I saw everybody, how they were badly hurt. First thing in my head was “okay, so if everybody’s here we got to evacuate”. As soon as I drove my truck out of the plant, the terminal entrance, there was firemen and an ambulance there. That’s how I got transported to the hospital. Once I reached the Corpus Christy hospital they put me out and I didn’t know anything else.
Path To Recovery
My surgeries, my skin graft, everything, my whole process I was out. First thing I remember when I woke up was “where was I at?”. I was confused, I was in pain, I was wondering what happened and that’s when I started asking questions and then they started answering my questions. The doctors told me that I had gotten burned from a 37% to 40% of my body and then once I was able to walk and move around, that’s when I saw myself in the mirror and I saw half of my stomach burn and it goes all the way to my back, my whole left leg, my behind area, my elbows, my face, behind my head. It was just, I mean I couldn’t believe how much I had gotten burned. I wasn’t angry but I was in a in a stage of how can this happen to me?
When I go to a plant, I rely on their safety. We did everything right but I just think that more should have been done from their part. I saw it in a way of they really didn’t care, it was just all about the money and that’s all it was.
During my recovery at home it was hard because there wasn’t that much stuff I could do. I was still getting help from people to shower me, to move around, drive around. I mean I thought it was just a lost case, that I was just going to be like “Am I going to be stuck with all these bills and what’s going to happen with me? Am I going to be able to work again or what am I going to be able to do with my life?” because I was badly hurt, so I know I got to get somebody to help me. Did my researches, started looking, and then came across Kherkher Garcia Law Office. I learned a lot about the expertise, they hire, everything they do. I was like okay I’m at the right place, no doubt throughout my whole process. My main attorney was Kevin Haynes. He had my back, he was always there for me. News was always coming in from him. Kherkher Garcia are experts on accidents, injuries, burn victims. They hired the right people for me to go and see, as in doctors or people that were there learning the case, the right people that were going to be for the case. Kherkher Garcia fought for me against that plant. Because of the settlement, now I’m looking forward and moving along with my family’s business; continue the restaurants, the bakeries, everything they have going on, and opening new businesses.
I mean scars are there and the memories are always going to be there. Cooking for me, it’s a different experience now because I can’t support too much heat. That’s one. Two, I mean it’s just usually really hot. The flames trigger some stuff still so I try to avoid it now, so I don’t do too much cooking but I can say I feel way better now, way way better now because I see that I’m achieving more stuff moving forward. Thanks to Kherkher Garcia, now I’m able to achieve all my goals that I want to achieve.
