Jacqueline Saburido

Jacqueline Saburido
Born (1978-12-20) 20 December 1978
Caracas, Venezuela
Occupation Spokeswoman
Known for Survivor of extremely severe burn injuries sustained due to a drunk driving accident

Jacqueline "Jacqui" Saburido (born 20 December 1978) is a Venezuelan burn survivor who campaigns against drunk driving.

Early life

The only child of Rosalia and Amadeo Saburido, she lived in Caracas, Venezuela for all of her childhood. Living with her father after her parents divorced, she began studying engineering in the hope of taking over the family air conditioning business. She moved to Texas to study English language at the University of Texas at Austin.

Accident

On September 19, 1999, Saburido attended a birthday party near Austin, Texas. She and her friends, Laura Guerrero, Johan Daal and Johanna Gil, decided to drive home after a few hours, and accepted a ride home from a classmate, Natalia Chpytchak-Bennett. At the same time, Reginald Stephey, an 18-year-old high school student, was driving home alone after drinking beers with his friends at a party. On the outskirts of Austin, Stephey's 1996 GMC Yukon collided head-on with Chpytchak-Bennett's 1990 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency.

Guerrero and Chpytchak-Bennett were killed instantly, while Gil and Daal suffered minor injuries. The car caught fire, and Saburido's feet were trapped under the seat, preventing her from escaping. Two paramedics, John McIntosh and Bryan Fitzpatrick, happened to be driving past when Stephey flagged them down. The flames were leaping several feet up into the air as they arrived. McIntosh put out the fire with his extinguisher and the two men set about removing everyone from the vehicle. However, Saburido was still trapped, and the fire restarted, forcing McIntosh and Fitzpatrick back. Saburido was inside the car for 45 seconds until a fire truck arrived to extinguish the fire. Saburido was then cut from the car and airlifted to the burn unit in Galveston.

Saburido suffered second and third degree burns to over 60 percent of her body, but survived despite her doctor's expectations. Her fingers had to be amputated, but there was enough bone left on her thumb to construct an opposable thumb. She lost her hair, ears, nose, lips, left eyelid and much of her vision. She has undergone more than 120 operations since the crash, including cornea transplants, which have restored her left eye.

Aftermath

In June 2001, Reggie Stephey was convicted on two counts of intoxicated manslaughter. He was sentenced to two concurrent seven-year prison sentences inside Huntsville Unit and fined $20,000.[1][2]

Saburido and Stephey met for the first time after his trial and conviction in 2001. Saburido has stated that Stephey "destroyed my life. Completely" but forgave him. Regarding the meeting, Stephey later stated that "What sticks out in my mind is, 'Reggie, I don't hate you.' It's really touching someone can look you in the eyes and have that much compassion after all that I have caused."

Saburido allowed graphic post-accident photographs of herself to be used in the media (posters, TV-commercials, and internet chain mail) to illustrate a possible outcome of drunk driving.[3] She is most well known for a commercial in which she holds a pre-accident photo of herself in front of the camera, which she lowers to reveal her disfigured face and says, "This is me, after being hit by a drunk driver." When asked why she appeared in the campaign, Saburido stated "I feel very good to do it because I know people can understand a little more what happened to me -- why my life changed completely. So I think for me, for everybody, it's a good opportunity."[4]

In order to ensure the material involving Saburido that was used in an ad campaign by the Texas Department of Transportation could also be used in schools, the videos and photos taken of her involved the use of soft lighting to improve her appearance and consultation with child psychologists to ensure the material, although graphic, would not frighten children.[4]

Regarding her life after the accident, Saburido stated that she has never given up: "If a person stumbles, he must pick himself up and keep going. I believe this is very important; if not, life would not have much sense."[3]

Saburido appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on November 17, 2003. She was also interviewed on the Australian 60 Minutes on March 14, 2004 and was featured in a Discovery Health documentary on face transplants. She continues to educate people on drunk driving. Oprah Winfrey has called Saburido the one person she had met who defined "inner beauty" and that she is "a woman who defines survival."

Stephey served his full sentence, having an appeal denied in 2005. He was released from the Huntsville Unit in Texas on June 24, 2008.[5] Saburido stated: "I don't hate him, I don't feel bad because he's out, he can reconstruct his life again."[6] Saburido is currently living in her hometown of Caracas, Venezuela.[3]

On May 20, 2011 Saburido again appeared on the fourth to last episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, a show dedicated to Oprah's Favorite Guests, including Mattie Stepanek and her "all-time favorite" Tererai Trent. During the segment Saburido revealed that as of the taping of that show, she had undergone over 120 surgeries.[7]

Face transplant

Saburido was among 21 disfigured people who had approached surgeons at a London hospital to carry out Britain's first face transplant operation.[8] She is also looking into other possibilities for a face transplant in other nations and hospitals.[9][10]

See also

References

  1. ↑   (2001-06-27). "Stephey gets 7 years and fined $20,000. - YNN - Your News Now". News8austin.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  2. ↑   (2001-06-22). "Stephey found guilty - YNN - Your News Now". News8austin.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  3. 1 2 3 A face to remember by Nicole Traynor, News 8 Austin, December 31, 2002.
  4. 1 2 A Sobering Message to Drunk Drivers, National Public Radio (NPR), October 18, 2002.
  5. ↑  . "Reginald Stephey released from prison - YNN - Your News Now". News8austin.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  6. ↑ Victim forgives newly-released drunk driver by Shelton Green, Texas Cable News (TXCN), June 25, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Jacqui's Struggle" (Video). Oprah.com. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  8. ↑ The Looming Controversy Surrounding Facial Transplant, Medindia.net, December 22, 2005.
  9. ↑ Face transplants inch toward reality, CNN.com May 26, 2004.
  10. ↑ First British face transplant 'within a year' by Roger Highfield and Celia Hall, The Telegraph, December 20, 2005k.
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