Retired Army Sgt. Richard Yarosh will be the first Iraq war veteran to be immortalized at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C., a fitting tribute to a man who gave everything but his life for his country. His life-size image will join those of other great Americans at the gallery in November. Yarosh was badly burned when his vehicle struck an explosive device while he was on patrol in Iraq.
Yarosh represents thousands of veterans who continue to return from war horribly disfigured due to burns. Unfortunately, burn treatments have a long way to go before there is any hope of burn victims reclaiming their lives and former countenances. This is why NTI made burn treatment one of its priority research areas–there is so much to do and so many people to help.
Development of skin replacements would reduce scarring and scar contraction to promote better rehabilitation. Other promising properties of new skin include stronger and more flexible wound covering, the ability to re-grow hair follicles and the presence of sweat glands, which promotes better body temperature control.
Much research needs to be done before new skin is a reality–we are doing all that we can to get such research funded so that it bears fruit in time to benefit our returning service people.