Gateway to Healing event benefits burn survivors — like sculptor Albert Paley
Renowned sculptor Albert Paley, who lives and works in Rochester, knows too well the pain and suffering of surviving a traumatic burn.
Thirty feet in the air, Paley was cutting a piece of metal with a blow torch July 26, 2002, when a gas line burst, engulfing him in flames. He was rushed to Strong Hospital with third degree burns over 30 percent of his body.
“I came close to dying and was put on life support,” Paley recalled. “After a month in the Burn Unit and two operations for skin grafts, I came home to begin the arduous process of physical therapy accompanied by several other minor surgeries. It was a long road to healing ... The experience was humbling and the journey life changing.”


















