While going through security at the Edmonton International Airport in the fall of 2008, Spencer Beach was approached by a guard whose son had recently seen him talk in Fort McMurray.
“Just amazing. What a story, sir. I have to congratulate you,” the woman said.
“You seem like such a happy person. How do you do it?”
Beach says he is surprised that people sometimes assume he’s not happy. The 36-year-old was severely burned in a chemical fire while laying linoleum in 2003 and has overcome tremendous odds to become a motivational speaker and author.
The experience made Beach, in his own words, a better person, something he writes about in his new book, In Case of Fire.
He grew up in St. Albert and, after finishing high school, began working for his father’s floor-laying company.
In April 2003, Beach was asked to replace the linoleum at a house in Edmonton’s Rutherford Close neighbourhood.
Like most trades, floor laying comes with its own set of risks, in this case, a highly flammable solvent called Roberts 1901 that workers often use to dissolve the adhesive that bonded linoleum to subflooring.
He was the only person in the home when he poured four four-litre bottles of Roberts 1901 on the floor. There was an explosion somewhere in the house; it caused a vacuum effect, making it impossible to open any doors.
Beach found himself in the middle of a roaring 1,500-degree fire and said he remembers feeling his clothing burning and melting onto his skin.
As a peaceful feeling began to wash over him, Beach said his thoughts turned to his wife, Tina, and their unborn daughter.
With his last ounce of strength, he forced himself to try the door handle on the garage one more time. It opened and Beach leapt into the garage, right on top of a pile of highly flammable construction garbage, which ignited all around him.
He was rushed to the University of Alberta Hospital’s Firefighters Burn Treatment Unit where he remained in a medically induced coma for six weeks.
Beach suffered third- and fourth-degree burns to 90 per cent of his body and lost his oil glands, facial hair, nipples, most of the hair on his head and several fingers on each hand. Thanks to his leather kneepads, work pouch and shoes, the skin on his knees, midsection and feet survived.
The intense heat also left his lungs severely damaged and the left side of his diaphragm paralyzed. He went through 24 surgeries in nine months and has had 36 to date.
Unlike most severely burned victims, Beach remembers every detail of the fire and in the months afterward, replayed the incident in his mind over and over.
“At that time, I was still fighting through anger, depression, fear, anxiety. I was afraid to be alone and I was anxious whenever somebody was in my room,” Beach told the Gazette, during an interview last month.
Besides the support of his family, his pastor, and Tina, who was constantly at his side, Beach said it was the birth of his daughter, five months after the fire, that made him want to turn his life around.
He also credits his strong faith with helping him overcome the depression, anxiety and the addiction to painkillers he suffered after the fire.
“When I gave up, I wanted to die in that fire and there were times when I wanted to die in the ambulance and then I wanted to die in the hospital,” he said.
“What I found is in the Bible, it says, ‘God won’t give you any more than you can bear,’ and it’s so true.”
Besides being severely scarred, the fire left him with many hidden disabilities, such an inability to deal very well with extreme temperatures.
Not one for sitting around the house, Beach said he was determined to go back to work, despite the fact that his career options were limited early on.
Before he began speaking full-time, Beach graduated with distinction from the Alberta Construction Association Safety Association’s construction safety officer program through the University of Alberta.
Around the same time, he also found out that the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) had placed him on their “100 per cent permanently disabled,” list, something that would guarantee his income for life.
As a motivational speaker, Beach now reaches, on average, 15,000 people a year through presentations on a number of topics, including workplace safety.
In particular, he highlights how easy it is to make one’s surroundings safer and why taking your time is so important.
“I understand, and I learned it the hard way, that if I get in an accident and if I’m increasing my chances of getting into an accident when I’m speeding, there is a good chance that I’ll never make it to that destination that it’s so important for me to get to on time,” he said.
“I’d rather get there late than not get there at all.”
Beach said being a motivational speaker is incredibly rewarding, and often people will approach him years later to tell him that his message has resonated with them.
As part of what he says is a unique perspective on life, Beach says simple things just don’t bother him anymore.
“I understand how precious life is, I understand what true friends are now,” he added.
He’s also devoted his life to helping others.
“I volunteer now and I never did before, I help other injured workers overcome their injuries and disabilities and get them back to living,” he said.
“I’m the same person now, I just have a better life. I’m not about ‘me,’” Beach explained.
The family also welcomed a second child in 2008.
“That just all comes down to God again, because he promises to provide for me and I kind of let him and, at the same time, I just do what I can for others.”
Spencer Beach will be signing copies of In Case of Fire at the Chapters in St. Albert this Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.
