Vivian Piña overcame second- and third-degree burns at the new Burn Center at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, putting the pain behind her the moment she returned to the private Christian school she has served for years.
“The parents would look at me and say, ‘Ms. Piña, oh my God,’” the 65-year-old receptionist says of her tearful reunion at West Dallas Community School. “Everyone said they had me in their prayers, and I owe it all to the Lord that I’m walking again.”
Vivian required two surgeries at Methodist Dallas, a skin graft, and an innovative spray-on skin technology after she spilled boiling water on her stomach and left leg during a winter storm in January 2026.
It was her first visit to any hospital, and Vivan felt well cared for throughout a stay she never expected to stretch 17 days.
“They made me feel very important,” Vivian says. “Not all hospitals have burn units. I was blessed Methodist Dallas has one there.”
ACCIDENT AT HOME
Vivian was stuck at home during the ice storm when she decided to mop the floors by boiling water from her dripping faucets – something she’s done for years during freezes.
But this time, as she carried the hot water from the stove to her mop bucket, it splashed onto her abdomen and spilled down her left leg and foot, scalding her.
“I could just see the steam coming out of it,” Vivian says. “It was red, so I ran it under cool water, put some Vaseline on it, and wrapped it.”
Despite the pain, Vivian finished mopping and felt somewhat better after taking ibuprofen and going outside into the cold for some relief.
By the next morning, blisters had appeared down the length of her leg, and Vivian knew her burns would not heal on their own. She couldn’t drive in the ice so she took a ride share to the emergency room at Methodist Dallas, expecting a relatively quick visit.
“I thought they were just going to scrape it and send me home with antibiotics and some medication,” she says. “I was surprised when they told me that I had second- and third-degree burns.”
Vivian had her daughter by her side throughout her 17-day stay in the burn unit.
MORE THAN SKIN DEEP
Burns don’t always reveal the full extent of the damage right away, says Peter Grossman, MD, FACS, medical director of the Burn Center at Methodist Dallas.
“Burns are progressive, and the way they look initially is not necessarily the way they’re going to look a day or two afterward,” Dr. Grossman says.
That proved true for Vivian. As her burns grew more painful and inflamed, Dr. Grossman and his surgical team took her to the operating room to clean her wounds and apply temporary skin while they monitored how her burns progressed.
A few days later, surgeons combined traditional skin grafting with an advanced technology known as RECELL. Healthy skin from Vivian’s thigh was grafted over the deepest burns on her abdomen and foot, while RECELL allowed the team to use much less donor skin for the larger burned area on her leg.
“We took a small postage stamp-sized sample of her own skin and put that skin into a solution and then sprayed that skin, spray-on skin cells, onto her legs,” Dr. Grossman says. “That was able to cover the majority of the burn.”
The Burn Center at Methodist Dallas is known for its pioneering techniques that help burn survivors recover more quickly. Visit MethodistHealthSystem.org
‘I WAS NEVER ALONE’
While Vivian had never been to a hospital before this year, her family has relied on Methodist Dallas for decades. She had no idea that specialized burn care wasn’t available at every hospital.
“I can’t imagine how many people don’t know that until they need it,” Vivian says. “I thought all hospitals had burn units.”
The six-bed Burn Center at Methodist Dallas opened in 2025 as only the third of its kind in the area and the first south of downtown Dallas.
“The staff was amazing,” she says. “I knew I wasn’t the only patient there, but I was never alone; I was never in need. They helped me through it.”
Before the school year started again, Vivian returned to the Burn Center with lunch for the nurses who had cared for her during those 17 days.
“They deserve it,” she says. “That was my way of thanking them for everything they did for me.”
Vivian never felt alone in her recovery inside and outside the hospital.
WHERE SHE BELONGS
Months after her surgeries, Vivian is walking normally again and back behind the front desk at the school she loves.
“These parents are amazing here at the school,” she says. “That’s what I’m here for: the parents and the kids.”
While in the hospital, Vivian received many heartfelt letters from West Dallas Community School, which serves elementary students and middle-schoolers.
“I hope you feel better and can come teach us more about God,” one student wrote. “I will pray each night for you to get better.”
“Coming to your class has really made a difference in my life,” another girl told Vivian, “so I thank you for that every day.”
Today, Vivian wears the scars on her leg as a reminder of her resilience. She won’t be boiling mop water anymore, and she’s got advice for anyone who tries to grin and bear the pain after an accident like hers.
“Go to the ER right away,” she says. “It doesn’t matter how that burn looks or how it happened, but go and get it checked.”
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