The Legal Outlet for the Agony of Gas Explosions

Scooters are ubiquitous in Taiwan, and taking a "plow" (falling off a scooter) is a shared memory for us. My "scooter-riding age" is quite advanced. From high school to graduate school and into employment, I could be considered a "veteran" at falling, remaining completely unperturbed. In my youthful arrogance during college, a few scars on my legs did not bother me; sometimes I even felt they were marks of bravery. It was not until a relatively minor accident that I found myself momentarily distracted and grazed a car parked on the roadside. The scooter and car were none the worse for wear, but my lower leg met the car at just the right, clever angle and snapped straight through, leaving me bedridden for a full half-year. Lying there unable to move a muscle, waking up in pain in the dead of night, waking up itching from the plaster cast, in the dead of quiet night listening to my roommates' chorus of snores, opening my eyes to shed tears, hurting and pondering, it truly was an absurd situation. A mere few seconds of momentary distraction, at a speed that was hardly fast at all, cost me half a year of my life. Just as I was preparing to graduate with many life plans in hand, things instantly turned out differently. I secretly resolved never to be stubborn about bodily safety ever again.

That kind of fracture pain is hard to describe, but the memory remains clear and bright. There is no external wound, yet the pain is buried deep within, resembling a large yoga elasticity ball filled with liquid, at the very center of which is hidden an extremely sharp octopetalous nail. It is full of a sensation of pointed foreign objects, rolling around inside, scraping, stabbing, and hacking—a real danger that feels like it could burst out at any moment.

Law as an Outlet

Bizarrely, while the inside surges and roils with pain, on the outside, nothing shows at all. To the touch, it is smooth and supple; it seems one could still casually strike various stretching poses upon that ball. The danger has been tightly wrapped up. That inconsistency between inside and outside creates a strong sense of contradiction. In contrast, while the body cannot move at all, the mind races through thousands of turns, trying to find an outlet for the severe pain deep within the leg.

Starting from the place most familiar to oneself: the law. I began to wonder whether the person who parked their car on the roadside should bear "tort liability" for damages. That car might have been illegally parked; a red line means 24-hour parking prohibition, making it definitely illegal from the outset. A yellow line would require taking a chance, since at the time of the accident it was already late at night when parking is permitted. I would have to ask a friend to go to the scene, take photos to gather evidence, and confirm the exact location.

Then another thought crossed my mind: I was the one who drove right into it, and that car didn't even move an inch. Illegal parking is merely an administrative penalty; administrative responsibility belongs to administrative responsibility and is not necessarily related to civil or criminal liability. Suing someone for tort might even result in a counter-suit, and having to pay for the damage to their car would be inevitable, without necessarily "earning back" my medical expenses. Moreover, I might even incur a charge of property damage, losing out on both ends.

At the time, I felt that studying law was truly useless, unable to help myself and offering no outlet for the suffering. But as I gradually recovered, one day I finally realized that the law is not omnipotent and naturally has its limits. What I desired more in my heart was my original, intact life, rather than meticulously and tediously pursuing responsibility—whether my own or someone else's. I am grateful for my good fortune; at a small price, I learned the valuable lesson of "no longer being stubborn" and resolved to pay close attention to safety.

Moving Forward Toward the Sunshine and Vigor

Following the Formosa Fun Coast dust explosion, I consciously or unconsciously avoided images of suffering. I imagined how ordinary burns from hot water producing small blisters can make us suffer intensely; the thought of burns covering a certain percentage of the entire body was simply too agonizing to contemplate any further. Reflecting on my own most painful experience, I still could not imagine the misery of the victims, mixed with the physical and mental exhaustion of the rescuers and the torment faced by those accompanying them. The entire societal mood seemed to rise along with the temperature, desperately in need of an outlet.

The people with whom we form a community are bearing immense suffering, and what is needed most right now is perhaps not the meticulous and tedious pointing of fingers to assign blame to one another. It is easy to understand that everyone wants to do something about this matter, but the law has its limits and proper roles, and after all, it tends largely toward passive and adversarial dimensions. This is its essential nature, and only by understanding it can we avoid misplaced expectations.

What we desire more should be our original, intact life, learning humbly from the painful experience, taking a further step toward "no longer being stubborn" regarding public safety, and facing the difficulties of the medical system down-to-earth while building a more complete social safety net.

Regarding the future of the injured, perhaps I can only share the story of my friend "Old Ch'en."

Old Ch'en is very capable, vivacious, and talkative, and possesses a strong sense of justice. Timid as I am, I never dared to ask how he toiled his way through the days of severe burns. But I very much enjoy listening to his heroic accounts of the past and watching him and his wife engage in everyday domestic bickering.

I always loved asking him: How on earth did you manage to win the hand of such a beauty back then? And how did you manage to trick her into defying her family's orders and marrying you without hesitation, leading an ordinary yet happy life just like everyone else? At times like this, his wife would always interject, saying, "Oh, isn't it all thanks to a silver tongue!"

Well, interested friends might want to search online to see how the mouth of "A-li Ba-ba" actually tells it.

Course of Burn Treatment and Rehabilitation Process

First aid secrets for burns and scalds: Flush, Remove, Immerse, Cover, Send

1. Emergency Observation Period:
   Determining survival within the first and second weeks; large and small blisters, bodily edema, post-traumatic stress disorder, frightened dreams and mumbling, conscious or comatose, critical red-slip notification, facing the threat of death from organ failure
2. Debridement Treatment Period:
   Hydrotherapy, surgical removal of black necrotic skin; use of artificial skin, pigskin, cadaveric skin (to prevent infection and fluid loss)
3. Skin Graft Reconstruction Period:
   Autologous skin grafting, scalp harvesting—expanding skin using water-filled tissue expanders for repeated harvesting
4. Rehabilitation Living Period:
   Major wounds healed, minor wounds blistering; physical reconstruction (physical and occupational therapy) joint exercise, limb stretching, soaking in hot springs, wearing pressure garments, scar skin care (lip balm, horse oil, sheep oil, baby oil, vaseline) and massage, outpatient treatment, surgical planning—irregular functional or cosmetic plastic surgery; weaning off drug addiction for pain relief, learning to use assistive devices
5. Independent Living Period:
   Rebuilding life by learning like an infant, how to take care of oneself in daily activities such as eating, dressing and putting on shoes, bathing, using the restroom, etc., living a new life with regularity
6. Self-Acceptance Period:
   Rebuilding psychology and building self-confidence, adjusting psychological emotions, communicating and persuading oneself, looking past and breaking away from the world of appearances, concealer makeup techniques to regain confidence, awakening to the realization that "after a hundred years, it's just a stinking skin bag"
7. Social Adaptation Period:
   How to face curious, strange gazes and unfriendly actions, self-deprecating humor, taking the first step of rebirth, shifting mindset so that worldly immersion is transcendence
8. Life Development Period:
   Social participation, vision, core values, self-actualization

Further Reading

Human Oddities: I Survived, Now What?—Chen Ming-li / Founder of Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation