Thursday, October 24, 2024
On May 17, 2017, Jonathan's apartment caught on fire and his hands were severely burned. He was in the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn unit in San Francisco for about 3 weeks. A month later he developed MRSA in his most severely burned hand and was hospitalized. A terrible burn for anyone but for Jonathan it meant a year of not playing guitar, writing or painting. Devastating for an artist.
During his stay in the burn unit, he became involved in the weekly burn community meetings for both burn victims in the hospital and former burn unit survivors. Jonathan was close to the burn community members until his death.
The Alisa Ann Ruch Burn foundation was key to offering Jonathan much needed psychological help and we will be eternally grateful. This injury was a pivotal event in Jonathan's life. Although physically he recovered, he had emotional and psychological scars which resulted in PTSD which he struggled with daily. We cannot know the extent this event exacerbated his existing problems, but know it was considerable.
We are grateful for the love, support and acceptance the San Francisco burn community and the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn foundation gave Jonathan-- the friendships he forged were powerful and he loved each member as they loved him. As a family, we say thank you to each and every one of you. Carolyn Stueve-Martin, Jonathan Martin's mother