Hi everyone, thanks to this episode of Nick Egan Times. On this episode, we have an incredible guest. We have Brianna Cranorn. Brianna is an Australian model, content creator, and burn survivor. Brianna was only 16 when she was unfortunately in a house fire and received 60% burns. Defying all of the odds Brianna has survived and is now thriving as Brianna continues to live a happy and fulfilled life following on from the tragic event.
Welcome to the inspiring, strong, and terrific Brianna and thanks for coming on the podcast.
Thank you for so much for having me. I'm really, really excited.
You're welcome. Alright, let's jump straight into it. Take us back and tell me about growing up, uh life, um, your family, and I guess, yeah, um everything relating to that.
I suppose like for me, everything up until the fire was all very, very normal, like very normal childhood. Um, I lived in Ipswich from the time that I was 12 with my mum and her partner. And we lived on a big property, we had lots of dogs, like went to high school, and it was all it was all just very, very normal, um, pretty well adjusted. And I have I'd had a lot of good friends, really supportive network around me, um, good in school, and yeah, just very, very status quo.
Um, so when the fire did happen, that was quite the flip-around from what everything that I'd sort of experienced so far.
Yeah. All right. Um, thank you for sharing that. All right. Tell me, tell me about the fire. How how did it happen? Like, and yeah, tell me about initially how that happened.
Um, so we actually still don't have the official cause of the fire. We lived in like a very old house on a property. Um, so there are a couple things that they said that it could have been, it could have been wiring. Um, and there was like an old mosquito coil out that night. Um, and then we don't know if someone forgot to blow it out and it's fallen over in the middle of the night. Um, but basically at three o'clock in the morning, um January 3rd, the house lit on fire.
And I woke up to my mum's partner sort of opening my door and telling me that we needed to get out of the house. Um, and I just remember at that time, like it was so just had no idea what was going on at all. Like I was very confused and disoriented.
Um, I sort of think back to it and I can remember hearing like a smoke alarm and like rumbling and breaking glass and things, but I just didn't really have in my head of like the house is on fire and this is what I need to do, and this I need to get out. Like, I just was totally panicked. Um, so I ran um to the front of the house trying to escape, and I didn't realize that where the fire had started was where I had headed to get out.
Um, so I basically got stuck in the middle of it trying to get out of the house. And we had a big metal gate at the front that was uh melted shut effectively. And I'd gotten to that point and tried to open it, and obviously it wouldn't open. Um and yeah, little did I know, I was pretty much just standing in the middle of the fire. Um, and I just started to have burns immediately just from the heat of it being around me.
Um, and as I turned around to go back the other way, something actually fell on top of my head and it just lit the back of my shirt on fire. Um, and I screamed, and my mum heard me, and she came and got me and got me out. And from then on, it was very quickly of like pouring water on the burns, and the ambulance came and I was taken to hospital. But the whole thing was just like so much happening all at once.
Crazy. And thank you for sharing that because I know obviously it wouldn't be easy to relive such a traumatic experience. Um, do you still to this day get nightmares? Like, how has that emotionally affected you?
Um, not too much anymore. I had a lot of like weird dreams when I was first in hospital. Um, I was in the ICU in a coma. So um there are a couple of sort of dreams where I felt like I was reliving it or like it was happening but in a different scenario. Um, when I left the hospital, I was pretty like sound mentally in terms of like um anything in relation to the fire itself. Um that never bothered me too much.
We had an incident though, it was probably about three months after the fire and I was home. And there was the smoke alarm in our house went off. Um, and it was just like a faulty battery or wiring or something. Like it was just complete fluke, but it went off in the middle of the night when I was already asleep. Um, and so that for me, that really set me back. Um, because it just totally took me straight back. It was I found that really um scary.
And I sort of woke up and everyone else was still awake. Like I was the only one that was asleep. Um, but I just sort of ran out in a panic and was like, what's going on? And I pretty much got myself out of the house as fast as I could after I found my mum. Um, and it took me a like quite a while to work through that and feel comfortable going to sleep after that. It hadn't bothered me up until that point, but it was just like this reminder.
Um, so I am quite like I get triggered by sounds quite easily. Um, I really don't like loud sounds. Like if the TV is on too loud, I'm like overstimulated and overwhelmed. Um so, and I remember we had at Physio, they had this um machine where these other patients were like wearing these headsets and like they were doing a very specific um workout, but they had these things attached to them that would beep. And I hated it.
Like I could not stand being in there trying to do physio while these things were beeping, like just very triggered by sounds.
Do you get um claustrophobic, like being in places too? Like, do you like a sus out places be like, oh, this this could be a fire hazard as well?
Uh, not really. I probably um could be a little bit more like conscious of what things could be a fire hazard. Um, I mean, I'm very aware, like if I have a candle or something on, like I'm always watching it. Um, but not too much in terms of going out. I do get a little bit um funny about big crowds, and I think that that is just again the over stimulation.
Like when I was in the hospital, everything was very quiet and isolated, and sort of entering back into the world after that was quite overwhelming because everything was just like sensory-wise, it was very overwhelming. Um, but not really. Like, I don't think I have a lot of um experiences in life though, where I am do like where I feel claustrophobic in like in a small environment. Like I'm always kind of outside or in open spaces.
Yeah, cool. Thanks so much. And tell me about the pain. How how how intense was that pain? Like, if you could potentially describe it, like obviously I don't know because I've never been in a situation, but how painful was it? Like, how could you describe that pain?
The funny thing about that for me is because I do actually get that quite question quite a lot, but I don't really remember the pain at all in that moment. Like, I remember the feeling of like how scared I was, but I don't really recall like that feeling. I have no idea what that really felt like.
I just like I just screamed, and I think afterwards when things sort of started to slow down and I was waiting for the ambulance, and that I sort of recall of like I was shaking and I knew that things hurt, but yeah, I I actually I don't think I could describe what it feels like. I really I I don't know, but for me as well as the recovery, the physical recovery was so much more painful than that split second moment that was over within a certain amount of time.
But the physical recovery afterwards that was like really excruciating. So when I sort of think about the pain and what was painful for that, I just go straight back to being in hospital and that recovery. I don't really think about the fire itself.
Yeah, cool. And tell me, tell me about the recovery. What process was that? Like that would have been really difficult, you know. Like obviously going through that whole structure and process of it. Yeah, um, elaborate on that for me, please.
Um, yeah, that was horrendous. Like, definitely will be the hardest thing I think I'll ever, ever have to go through. Um, and it was just like simple things, like everything was hard. Like you had big stuff like surgeries and grafting and physio that was obviously very painful, but just like every step of the day was just difficult.
You have to have like rounds of needles every morning because you're lying in bed so often, and you're just like, I just don't feel like I've I've going through so much already. I don't feel like being prodded with a needle every morning when I wake up. Like, but I was having surgeries from the very beginning. Um, as soon as I was in hospital, I had to have like all of dead skin debrided.
Um, I was having physio while I was in ICU, so I was in a coma, but they were still um starting to try and move parts of my body and having splints put on to keep things in certain positions, like they're just working with you from the very moment it comes in, burns.
Um a sort of a difficult injury in that when you have the grafting process, you're not only like in a coma and not moving, and therefore your muscles and tendons and things aren't being used, you also have the healing of the skin growth, like heals really, really tight. And so that's why we have compression garments and even more physio because it needs to be stretched back out, and it's the same with the tendons and the joints, everything effectively shrinks and tightens.
So, on top of the physical recovery from just being um like having not moved for so long, but then the actual grafting on top and needing to do the correct procedures to have that heal correctly, and so yeah, I was having multiple surgeries, um, some multiple in a week, and having different grafting, which grafting, I suppose, because not everybody knows what that means, is when you take um donicite, and that is an area of skin that isn't damaged.
So I had 60% burns, which was my arms, my legs, my hands, my feet, and my back. Um, so I only had like very fairly minimal sort of area to have donosite taken from, which was mostly like my chest, my neck, my stomach, um, my scalp. They shaved my head to take skin from my scalp. Um, and that basically they they peel that off. Um, it gets put through a machine to stretch it out into a sort of bigger, usable donation. And then it's um a mixture of stapled and um stone.
Um, but yeah, it's put onto that area that obviously needs the skin, um, which is why I like burn scars tend to have an interesting sort of pattern to them. Um, but yeah, like that is a that in itself is a long process, and you can have graphs that don't take, and you've got the graft that's healing, and then you've also got the donic site that's healing, um, which is also like that feels like a really, really bad sunburn. Um, because you're just having a layer of skin taken off effectively.
So there's there's just so many different um avenues to it. Like there's just so many different things happening all at once. It's it's quite overwhelming um to experience. And when I sort of um recall it and I'm doing a series at the moment where I've been going through my journey, it's it's really hard to encapsulate it all because there's just so many different elements of what's happening.
Right. Um and is that it? Like, is is the grafting and I guess the physical requirements all done now, or will you still have to go through this process somewhat for the rest of your life, or will the skin heal back to potentially what it was? Like, what's what's the future look like in that aspect?
Um, so I have had previously like laser uh therapy done to particularly the scarring on my face, um, and that just tries to make it less itchy, less um pronounced. Um, it loosens the area because it does tighten and you have certain parts of my body that are quite tight and they can't move in certain ways. Um, so I've had that a few times, and but it's a very long waiting list. And if you're not um high priority, it takes a while to have.
So I'll probably have another one in the next year or two, but it really just depends on when that opportunity opens up for me. In terms of the rest of my body, it's not something I really feel the need for. Um, I mean, they've pretty much done all they can in terms of my scarring now. It will continue to change over the years, but like I've gotten my um sort of pigment back mostly in some areas. It it starts off very red and very purple, and now it's just a fairly like normal skin colour.
So it completely changed, changes throughout the years, and I am really quite comfortable with how everything looks, and I don't have anything physically um that's stopping me from doing anything. Like um a lot of people my previous surgeries have been to uh be more practical, they haven't really been um aesthetic, it's been because something's really um tight and I can't move it in a certain way or um different things like that. So for me, the majority of it is definitely over.
I just don't really feel the need for it anymore.
Yeah, that's great. Thank you for sharing that. That's um, you know, you should be extremely proud. Like, you know, you're very brave, it's amazing. Like obviously where you're fighting. Um what what when you look back of your journey and everything that's transpired, how have you, if there's any positives that you can take out of it, what what are they? Like what what like mentally, personally, it can be anything, has would you say is being positive from it?
Oh absolutely. Like I am a very big believer and it was something that happened to me, but I can't change it. And for me, in terms of that whole recovery process, I couldn't let myself think of the well, what if this didn't happen? Just had to accept it for what it was. And while there were, you know, really, really hard aspects and really sad things that I wish didn't happen, it has made me into such a strong person.
Um, and I really sort of try and take that with me into everything in my life, like when anything is hard or just going through a hard time in general, I sort of have to try and give myself that little bit of perspective every now and then of hey, well, you've gotten through this and this isn't nearly as bad as that. So you can push through and you can overcome what you're going through right now. Um, so that sort of perspective has been really life-changing.
Um, it's connected me with a pretty incredible community that I would never have connected with before. And I think that in terms of like our societal standards of self-love and things like that, it really pushed me to accept myself and see other people in a really different light as well. Like just to look at other people and look at different bodies and not even looking at them as are they attractive or not, but just seeing them as people and having that surface layer sort of removed.
And I yeah, I just think that it's really changed me as a person and I wouldn't be who I am or where I am without it. And while it was an awful sort of experience, I can't change it, and so I can be thankful for all of the things that it's brought me to, like doing this podcast and all the other opportunities I get to do. Like I'm endlessly thankful for that.
Cool. And how has the community um been supportive? Um up until obviously it's happened until now. How has the general public been? Like, have you had any issues with anyone? Has anyone ever said anything negative, or has it always been just positive?
I mean, there's always the few, like there's always gonna be one person that um is either mean or just says the wrong thing. I think a lot of people um try and be very complimentary without realizing that it can be a bit backhanded. Um, but I always just try and see the thought behind it of what they are trying to say. Um, but I mean, I've been quite lucky, I think, in the community that surrounds me. Um, I've curated a very safe space on my own Instagram platform.
Um, and the only time I ever really see anything negative is on if another brand will post, um, will reshare my own images. Um, and the comments on their sometimes can be a little bit funny, but um, that doesn't really bother me in terms, they're generally very uneducated comments anyway.
And um, I think it's also a really good opportunity to see brands sort of standing up for the people that they choose to share and have and creating that safe space so that other people aren't seeing that and taking that on board for themselves. Um, TikTok is a little bit of a scary place to be. Um, that's definitely very different. But again, like I just try not to feed into those things and try not to look at that sort of thing and just not take it on board.
Yeah, cool. What are um tell me about the projects and everything you're doing? You've got YouTube. Um tell me about everything related to that and how that's your ambitions and you know what what are you planning for the future? What what what are these projects and the projects you're working on currently? Um, yeah, talk to me about them.
Um so I've just about to finish the IGTV series that I've been sharing. It's gone through my entire journey from the fire and through like different topics throughout my recovery until now. Um, so my last episode is being posted this week. So I've been really, really excited about that. That's been my my main one, my main focus for the last like year pretty much. It took quite a while to get the ball rolling on it. But once I did, um, I've really, really enjoyed creating that.
So I think I want to stay in that space um and continue extending on that and answering questions. And I found, like I said earlier, there's just so many different elements that as I was going through it, I was like, I could talk more about this and I could talk more about that. And there's just sort of so many different things you can cover. Um, so I think I really want to stay in that space and work on that.
And I mean, I've got a really, really amazing management team behind me that are always pushing me to try new things and keep going down this avenue. So I'm honestly, I'm just someone that's really open to everything, like every opportunity I just want to say yes to and experience it. And I'm just really looking forward to keeping on doing that.
Incredible. And that's a great attitude to have. Always be, you know, open opportunities, you know, keep an open mind because you know you never know what that's gonna bring, and you know, the experience it's gonna take out of it for the rest of your life. So yeah, I couldn't agree more. Um thank you. Well, if there was someone that was in a similar position to you, or um yeah, has gone through or currently is, what advice would you give them?
I think um surrounding yourself with people that build you up and will support you because it is not an easy to join an easy journey to go on. Um, and for me, the biggest thing that got me through was that I had my mum and I had my family and my friends, and just having that support around me to be able to laugh about silly things still and get through the day made the biggest difference.
Um, and like seeking out help and having that support around you of seeing a therapist and going through that trauma and learning about yourself, like that is a really big thing that I think we all should have access to. And for me, the hardest part in terms of my sort of like mental health in terms recovery was not feeling like I had anyone to relate to, which is part of the reason I sort of built my platform in the first place.
And I think um as someone that has always sort of struggled with body image anyway, I've made it a really strong point to make my Instagram something that I can see myself in. And so when I'm scrolling through and I'm looking at other people, I don't want to be comparing myself to other people all day and looking at them and thinking, oh, I wish I had their life or I wish I had their body.
And so I've filled it with people that are normal and look the same as me, and that makes me feel more comfortable in my skin. Um, so I think as well, finding that representation in the media for you that makes you feel heard because I really didn't have anyone to relate to at that time. Everyone that I met that was another survivor was significantly. Older than me. And they had different kinds of burns. And they were just in a very different journey to what I was on.
And I was 16, and I had no idea how I was going to overcome this trauma, let alone an entirely new body. So I think just finding that thing you can relate to and that representation that really, really helped me. And I can only hope that that would help other people.
Yeah, thanks for sharing. You are an inspiration. As I said, you're amazing.
Thank you.
Um, what's the best compliment you've ever received?
Oh, that's a really good question. That is a really good question. Oh god, I don't even know. Um, I think probably really the biggest compliment to me is the people that share their own stories with me that reach out and say how much I've helped them. Like people can sort of compliment me all day and say, inspiration, you're brave, and things like that.
But to have other people that know what I've been through and are going through the same thing reach out and say that I've made a difference to them in their own recovery, that is like endlessly rewarding. Um, so yeah, I would think one of the one of the few people that have messaged me that is that will always be an incredible feeling.
Awesome. And what's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Oh that's another really good question. Um, probably something my mum said to be fair. It probably gives me advice about just about every single day. Um probably just like allowing myself to be me, just not letting anyone sort of stop me down or trying to change myself. I've had a lot of conversations with my mum about that, of not minimizing myself or um changing who I am to please anybody else.
And so I think that yeah, that is as a whole, that is what she sort of taught me in the end of just completely owning who I am and being proud of who I am. So but say something along the lines of that.
Yeah, great. And um, what are your hobbies and passions? Um, what do you like to do in your downtime?
Um, that is something I'm working on. I'm not very good at the whole downtime thing. I'm usually out being social or working or doing social media things. So um I do love reading. Um, big dog person. I have dogs at home, so taking them out, going to the beach. Um, very I just like being outdoors or yeah, occupying my brain with a book or something like that. So, but that is definitely something I'm trying to get more hobbies. So I'm always just shooting.
That's cool. Um, what inspires you daily?
Oh I think my mom. Um, I talk about her a lot, like in terms of my recovery and my journey, seeing everything she has overcome in her own life and the steps she has taken herself to overcome those things and just know herself better and know herself mentally, and um things like that, that really inspires me. I'm a really big advocate on um sort of self-work and doing the work and really understanding what's going on in your brain, especially after trauma.
Um, so I think just seeing the work that she does on herself um throughout her life, that really, really inspires me. I think that's so important, and it inspires me to do that for myself as well and everybody in my life.
Great. Um, look, you know, thank you for coming on the podcast. It's been it's been incredible, you know, sharing obviously such a traumatic experience, you know. Um yeah, thank you. That's all I can say.
Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate anyone sort of giving me a platform to share what I'm passionate about. And yeah, it's it's always interesting to chat with different people and have like different questions that I don't always get. That's always really interesting. So thank you.
No, you're you're you're you're a role model, you're a leader, you know, you're an inspiration, you know, you're doing you're doing so much more for the community than you probably realize on different elements and different levels too. You know, yeah, you're truly an inspiration. It's incredible.
Thank you. That is so nice. I appreciate that so much.
You're welcome.