David Jayne, ’52
Alumnus reaches out to help fellow burn survivors
By Anna Riggenbach, Kent State magazine journalism studentKent State University alumnus David Jayne, ’52, knows what it’s like to suffer and recover from massive burns. Today he is using his personal experience to help burn survivors and their families.
“I was so blessed,” Jayne says now, more than 30 years after the accidents that left him with serious burns on 65 percent of his body.
The road to helping other burn victims began at Kent State, although during his student years, the native of Mentor (near Cleveland) could never have imagined the circumstances that would change his life and the lives of others. After graduating with Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Business Administration degrees, he embarked on a career in the military to pursue his passion for flying.
Jayne was a pilot on a mapping mission in Guatemala in 1959 when he had his first flying accident. As his helicopter was hovering, gasoline leaked onto the engine deck. The deck caught fire and exploded.
“I was sitting, ready for take-off, without any premonition of danger,” Jayne says. “The bubble of the helicopter and my helmet were blown away, and burning gasoline just engulfed both me and my crew chief.”
Jayne closed his eyes, snapped the release belt and fell to the ground as the helicopter rolled over into 55-gallon gas drums that caught fire. He fell into the burning area and crawled out from underneath the wreckage.
“I just rolled until my flames were out,” he says.
Jayne was flown to Guatemala City. He was unconscious, his eyes were swollen shut and he later developed gangrene on his hands and face.
He spent the next three-and-a-half years in and out of the burn ward with a total of 28 operations to rebuild his face and hands. Eventually, he regained control of his middle finger on his fused right hand, and that was enough to give him hope.
“I was upset and discouraged until the doctors said they could save that finger,” Jayne says. “With a full grip, I knew that I could fly again. I knew I could control a cycling stick.”
He was determined to return to active duty and to flying. While he was incapacitated in the hospital, Jayne says his strength and determination came to the surface.
“If I could bottle determination and sell it, I’d be a millionaire,” he says. “The outlook you have is so important — much more important than your physical condition.”
His positive view played a large role in his recovery, his return to the military and to flying. But in 1970, while flying in Venezuela, he was involved in another accident, resulting in even more burns. He was discharged from the military with full disability, enrolled in law school and subsequently began a successful career as a lawyer.
In 1995, Jayne and his wife, Jane, who live in San Antonio, Texas, formed the Texas Burn Survivor Society (TBSS). The society assists burn survivors and their families, both financially and emotionally. Jayne calls this a very rewarding endeavor, particularly since he is now able to help fellow members of the military who have been injured in combat or accidents.
It’s his way of helping others realize they don’t have to give up their dreams.
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