Life Ignited

In a split second, Connor McKemey went from being an active, athletic thirteen-year-old whose life revolved around school, sports, and family, to being engulfed in flames from a propane tank explosion in his backyard. Passing out in the ambulance, he woke up three months later to discover that 90 percent of his body had been burned.Defying the grim 1 percent chance of survival doctors gave him, the young teen tapped into his inner strength to rebuild his life. From coming to grips with what happened-and his drastically changed appearance-to coping with the pain of rehabilitation and over a hundred surgeries, he faced adversity without losing sight of his dreams. Through mental resilience, he resumed playing sports in high school and college and became a coach for an elite lacrosse program. Today, McKemey gives talks to audiences worldwide, showing others that they, too, can come through excruciating challenges with a profound sense of self-acceptance.