, South
Pacific Division Record, reporting
from Brisbane, Queensland,
Australia, with additional reporting by Adventist Review staff
A missionary plane mechanic who was severely burned when a
fuel tank caught fire in a Papua New Guinea hanger last year will undergo a
crucial operation on June 13 as he continues a long road to recovery.
Linden Millist, chief engineer for Adventist Aviation
Services, suffered burns over 50 percent of his body when the fire erupted during
routine maintenance on his organization’s newest plane at the Goroka airport in
January 2013.
He was scheduled to undergo surgery for grafts and steroid
injections to his face at 6 a.m. at a hospital in Brisbane, Australia.
“This is the op I have been waiting for now for a few
months,” Millist said in a message to supporters on Facebook.
The operation had been scheduled for June 5 but was delayed
after the hospital received another acute burns patient.
“I said yes to this opportunity, despite it messing up a few
appointments and plans, as I have already been bumped once, after waiting a few
months,” said Millist, an engineer for Adventist Aviation Services.
This is the second time Millist has had this procedure and
he hopes it will be his last. Some patients have undergone the procedure
four times.
“I recall the recovery [from this procedure] wasn't much fun
and painful,” Millist said. “I was hoping that that first attempt would be the
one and only, but despite working hard to reach that goal, I have lost this
battle with my body's rapid natural healing.”
Millist, who is married and in his mid-30s, is the son of
Roger Millist, the outgoing CEO of Adventist Aviation Services. Roger Millist
was decorated this week with one of Australia’s top honors, the Order of
Australia Medal, in recognition of his work in Papua New Guinea, or PNG.
Despite the follow-up operation and the need to live near
the hospital, Millist is upbeat.
“Life is an adventure still, not knowing what each new day
will bring, kinda like living in PNG!” he said. “Thank you for thinking and
praying for me!”
UPDATE: Millist said in a letter posted on his Facebook page after the operation on Friday that the procedure went well and he was recuperating.
Facebook page supporting Linden Millist
Video of Millist’s accident and road to recovery
