My mother was critically burned during surgery in December 2002 when a topical solution was not allowed to dry before the doctor used a cauterizing tool.

The entire experience was awful, but the worst realization for me was that nobody would listen. No one apologized, no one showed much emotion at all. All I heard was "mistakes happen." I tried to find out where I could report the event, but discovered that often, I simply wasn't believed.

Before she died, my mother asked me to make sure that something like this never happens to another human being.

Cathy Reuter Lake
Founder, SurgicalFire.org