B.C. man overcomes 'nightmare' burns to create 'dream come true' life
When John Westhaver woke up in the hospital that day, he was terrified.
“What’s going on?! Where am I?!” John thought, realizing he was attached to countless machines and wrapped in bandages from head to toe. “What happened?!”
The last thing the then-18-year-old recalled was hanging out with his three friends. There was no memory of the fatal crash that made front page news, leaving John the sole survivor, now waking from a month-long coma.
“My whole world had changed,” John says. “I began living a nightmare.”
John suffered life-threatening burns over 75 per cent of his body.
“The pain was hell,” John says. “Hell on earth.”
The physical pain could be overwhelming. The emotional pain was unrelenting.
“I was devastated by the fact that I had lost those friends,” John says. “And I was like, ‘Who’s going to want to date me? Will I be alone forever? Will I have a family?’”
John says he learned to endure the trauma by developing a tough exterior fuelled by anger, until his dad encouraged him to forgive the driver of the other vehicle who caused the crash.
“At first I was like, ‘No way!’” John says.
But he took time to reflect and eventually did it.
“That simple act of forgiving him increased the quality of my life automatically, because I let go of a lot of that anger,” he says.
It was the first step in a journey of healing that eventually led John to stop suffering about his past and start being hopeful and courageous in his present.
“Why live in the past when your future’s ahead of you?” he says.
So John committed to turn his adversity into an opportunity, and began inspiring others through speaking engagements across North America.
He also tried online dating.
“To let somebody in to love you,” John says. “That’s the scariest thing in the world.”
But if you’re brave enough to open your heart, you just might find you're fortunate enough to find the perfect partner.
After countless “butterfly feeling” dates, Bri said “yes” to John’s proposal, followed by “I do” on their wedding day.
“If you would have told me that I would have this life, back when I woke up from the coma, when I was saying, ‘Why Me? Nobody’s ever going to love me again,’” John smiles. “I would have said, ‘You’re full of crap!’”
But love — it’s said — begets love. And now John, Bri and their three daughters are creating a life full of it.
“This is possible,” John smiles. “A guy that looks like me can have a happy, successful, full, rich life, like a rock star!”
You can turn your nightmares into the best dreams come true.
“And they’re still coming true,” John adds with a smile. “I just keep dreaming.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Doctors combine a pig kidney transplant and a heart device in a bid to extend woman's life
Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.