The symbol of the phoenix had a special significance for Mike. He had it tattooed on his right forearm, and for a time he had even planned to legally change his first name to Phoenix.
In ancient Greek mythology, according to Wikipedia, the phoenix was a “long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates or otherwise is born again.” When the end had come, the legend goes, the phoenix would build up a nest around it and set it on fire, only to be reborn in a new incarnation from the ashes.
A strange visitor
Mike had told me this story years ago, so I’m piecing it together from memory.
Soon after his 1994 accident while serving in as a Navy corpsman, when he was still in the burn unit grappling with survivor’s guilt and depression and discouraged about the long recovery ahead, Mike received an unexpected visit.
One day, a man of indeterminate age came into Mike’s room and sat down by the bed. Mike had no idea who he was, but as he looked more closely, he realized this man had been severely burned, perhaps many years earlier. He had no hands, no hair, and his face was disfigured, with no eyelids and no recognizable nose.
The gentleman introduced himself as a fellow veteran and a representative from an organization called the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors. He was part of Phoenix SOAR (Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery), a program that offers peer support and encouragement to survivors and their families by joining them with other survivors who volunteer their time.
The man, Mike said, spent a long time talking with him. He told Mike his story, how he had been burned while serving in Vietnam. But mostly, the man listened to Mike — he asked what Mike was going to do when he was out of the hospital. What was important to him, what did he want out of life?
Up until then, Mike hadn’t been able to think too far into the future. He felt guilty for surviving the blast that killed his two brothers-in-arms, and he was having a hard time picturing what kind of life he was even going to be capable of living. When he heard this man’s story, though, he started to think about what he had just come through.
Mike still didn’t know why he lived and his buddies didn’t. But he started to consider that maybe he would get better. Maybe he should live life, for them. Maybe he actually had a whole life ahead of him after all.
Mike knew right away what to say to this man. “I want to go to college.”
And he did. After a two-year recovery process, Mike went to Cal and graduated with a degree in integrative biology. He loved Berkeley, he loved the friends he met. He was so thankful for college and all the opportunities it gave him.
Mike was deeply inspired by this man from Phoenix SOAR and what he and the Phoenix Society stood for. The man and the myth of the phoenix rising from the ash inspired Mike and fueled his desire to not only go on living but to continue helping others, this time on a whole new level.
