After Sudden Disaster, Son of Federal Worker Receives Full Care

Five years ago, Lois Wellman, Department of Interior, and family suffered a terrible disaster when their house exploded due to a propane gas leak. At the time of the explosion, Lois’ thirteen-year-old son, Jordan, was inside the house and was hit directly by the blast. Because of the explosion and the fire that quickly engulfed their home, Jordan suffered severe burns over fifty eight percent of his body. In most cases, people with over fifty percent body burns seldom survive.

Jordan remained in the hospital for fifty-one days. He endured intense physical therapy, participated in a school reentry program so that he would not fall behind in his education and underwent many surgical procedures to minimize his scarring.

A CFCNCA-charity supported organization enabled Lois to reside in the hospital with her son throughout his stay to better care for him, and received trauma counseling through the hospital. Additionally, funding aided the skin graft medical research that reduced much of Jordan’s scarring. Thanks to an innovative medical procedure, Jordan’s face now shows little to no evidence of his ordeal. The hospital continues to support Jordan’s recovery, and will continue to do so until his twenty-first birthday. 

Jordan enrolled as a freshman at Ohio State this fall. Thanks to the aid of the CFCNCA-funded hospital, Jordan experienced a remarkable recovery. Despite just beginning her career as a Federal worker, Lois did not pay for any of her son’s treatment.

This year marks Lois’ third straight year as a Keyworker for the campaign. When speaking to her fellow Federal employees at campaign gatherings, Lois always advises people to look around them, because somewhere in the audience there is somebody whose life, or whose child’s life, their support may well help to save.