Rochelle Rushlow of Louisville, KY is a highly motivated individual.
“If nothing else positive came out of what happened to me, I at least learned how to decompress and relax.”
Around 7:00 a.m. on the morning of July 16th, 2019 at their home in Louisville, Rochelle was preparing for work in the HR department at the University of Louisville. She had put some peanut oil in a pan on the stove, intending to fry some food for her family’s lunch that day. At the time, she was ironing some clothes as well when the smoke alarm started to go off. When she ran back into the room, other parts of her kitchen were already on fire. Rochelle and her daughter, Olivia, sprung into action. Rochelle notes, “I remember wanting to put the fire out, but I didn’t have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, and I knew I couldn’t put water on a grease fire. My daughter grabbed the pot, and I went to open the door for her. When she got to the door, the air hit the pot, and it exploded. She received flash burns on her face, and she has a scar on her arm. Then the fireball hit my entire left side, and wrapped around to create wraparound burns on my right side.”
Rochelle and Olivia were taken to UofL Health for severe burn damage. After two months and numerous excruciating procedures and skin grafts, Rochelle was finally discharged from UofL’s Burn Unit and began her road to recovery, including 2 weeks of inpatient rehab and 4 months of outpatient rehab. “I credit them [the UofL Health team] for saving my life. I absolutely credit them for saving my life.”
“It’s all about perspective. I view it as my best day ever because it could have killed me, but I’m still here. I judge every bad day by that day. I always had a different lens on life, because of how I grew up [Rochelle had a very challenging upbringing as a child]. The fire became my best day, because if THAT couldn’t take me out, I have a purpose, and God has a reason for me to be here. If people don’t understand me, then bless them and keep moving.”
Rochelle has an MBA with a focus in Finance and plans to complete a Ph. D. program in the future as part of a promise she made to her grandmother. She currently runs her own business, Amun Ra Beauty, which provides high-quality skincare products like sunscreen specifically designed for burn victims. You can support Amun Ra at: amunrabeauty.com.
Rochelle Rushlow.
Driven.
Trauma Survivor.
