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When Kevin Mayer, of Washington, returned home from a two-month stint at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill, he didn’t know the pain he endured while recovering would lead to countless opportunities to give back to the center. 

On May 8, 1989, Mayer had a horrific welding accident in his shop. An explosion erupted and 60% of his body – from his knees to his ankles – was covered in third degree burns. The burns, Mayer said, were so severe that his surgeon at the Burn Center, Dr. Peterson weighed the option of removing his legs, but instead chose to conduct an experimental surgery with Mayer’s consent. 

Mayer underwent four major surgeries and at least four minor surgeries. One of those surgeries was experimental to save Mayer’s legs. Because the burns were so severe, the periosteum had died and most of what was left was bone. The periosteum is where a skin graft would normally attach; however, Dr. Peterson drilled each bone from Mayer’s knees to his ankles so that bone marrow could come out and form a granulation that a skin graft could attach to, Denise, Mayer’s wife explained. 

Mayer added that the Burn Center has a panel of doctors who discuss how to approach each surgery. The panel agreed that the best approach in Mayer’s case was to remove both of his legs, but Dr. Peterson wanted to “try something,” Mayer said. That something being an experimental, novel surgery that had never been done before, and “it worked,” he said. 

The experimental surgery was successful, but Mayer still had a long road to recovery. 

In a word, recovery was “terrible” Mayer described. Denise said it took him at least 45 minutes to get out of their two-door sedan and climb three steps to reach a side door into their home. 

Denise, by the way, was eight months pregnant with their son. The Mayers joked about who would return home sooner, Mayer or their new baby. 

For weeks, Denise stayed in a hotel room provided to patient families by the burn center. She then had to divide her time between hospital stays and going to work. 

The couple, still fairly new to Washington from upstate New York, was grateful for the generosity of people who donated to the center. The donations helped cover the cost of Mayer’s medical bills. 

“We were financially strapped. I was going to school full-time, and she was eight months pregnant so I didn’t have any insurance or anything like that,” Mayer said. “The Burn Center had all kinds of programs for people that were in our situation.” 

Regardless of Mayer’s capability to pay medical bills, the care he received at the Burn Center “did not change,” he said. 

When the Mayers returned home, the donations didn’t stop. Washington residents, most of them anonymous, gave money to the Meyers to assist with medical bills. Mayer remembered finding a $100 bill in their mailbox one day. 

“We’re from upstate New York so we weren’t very established in the community. We didn’t know a whole lot of people. A lot of people would come in, and she’d find a $100 bill in the mailbox or somebody would drop off an envelope. We had no idea who they were or anything like that. People were really giving back so we wanted to give back,” Mayer said. 

In 1992, the Mayers held a car show to collect donations that would go toward patient care at the Burn Center. Thirty years later, they started Wheels and Wings – an annual event and nonprofit organization where proceeds go to patient care at the Burn Center. 

Wheels and Wings Fly-In and Cruise-In is the perfect event for airplane and car aficionados. This year’s Wheels and Wings event was held on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Washington-Warren Airport in Washington. More than 230 cars and ten airplanes were on display. 

Each year, the amount of donations collected has increased. In 2022, the event raised $14,000. Last year, it raised $19.650, but this year, it raised over $24,000. 

Later this year, the Mayers will present a check for $24,000 to the Burn Center. 

Anyone who would like to donate to the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center can visit: https://www.med.unc.edu/surgery/burn/burn/giving/.