Sophomore Peyton Templeton was severely burned in an accident when she was less than 1 year old. Despite the ongoing challenges she faced as a burn survivor, Templeton made friendships, became a Harding cheerleader and used her experiences to help others. On the same day that she took her first steps, Templeton crawled into the kitchen where her father was making dinner. She pulled an electric deep fryer off of the counter, spilling the hot grease onto herself. Her father was close enough to push the fryer back so that it only spilled onto the right half of her body, but a few hours passed before they were able to reach a hospital capable of treating Templeton's extensive burns. For two weeks, doctors told Templeton's parents that she might die at any moment. At that time, children under 2 with more than 20 percent of their body burned were unlikely to survive. Doctors told Templeton's family that 43 percent of her body was burnt. She underwent countless surgeries and skin grafts, contracted two infections and spent her first birthday in the hospital during her nearly two-month stay. For the following six months, she wore special clothes to treat and soften her scars. In school, Templeton was ridiculed often. Long-time friend sophomore Caleb Rowan said this was especially true in elementary school when students did not know or understand what had happened to her. Rowan said Templeton was always able to find her place in school and had many friends through the years. "[She has] courage and strength because she doesn't care what everyone else thinks about her,'' Rowan said. "She is who she is, and she knows who she is." Templeton explained that it took her until age 18 to fully accept her scars. It was difficult enough being a girl but even more so being a girl who would never look the same as everyone else. Though she struggled with self-doubt, she learned to stick up for herself. Before her senior year of high school, Templeton found a community of burn survivors, who helped her learn the importance of owning her story and learning to tell it. "I appreciate all that I've gone through, especially now looking back because I get to share my story, and I get to be some kind of inspiration to other people, but those years were rough," Templeton said. Templeton said she learned to be loud and outgoing to compensate for people being intimidated by her appearance. She began cheering in fifth grade. Since burn scars did not stretch, it was unheard of for a burn survivor to become a cheerleader. She could not tumble, but she worked twice as hard on all the other moves. From sixth to ninth grade, her mother worked with her on her jumps and motions outside of practice nearly every night. Though Templeton always intended to go to Harding, she did not realize cheering at the collegiate level was possible until her junior year of high school. Templeton decided to double major in Spanish and leadership and ministry, intending to go to graduate school and become a marriage and family therapist because she had always found self-value in helping others. She said she found her experience to be an advantage when talking to girls about self-image. Her roommate, sophomore Jordan Jones, said knowing Templeton gave Jones a new perspective. "She has helped me see that however God sees me, that's all there is,'' Jones said. There were times in the past when Templeton questioned what happened to her and felt that she was not strong enough for the life she was given. Other times, she reflected on how amazing the story that God gave her was and how she could share it with others. "I've become a strong person that can rise to the occasion and take life head-on," Templeton said. "Sometimes I don't want to, but I know that I can." Kristina Kiser "It just really clicked that God was saying, 'Peyton, I gave you this story. Do something with it."' Sophomore Peyton Templeton 145
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