My injuries were critical. Upon arriving at the emergency room, I was put into a medically-induced coma. I spent the next five weeks in the hospital fighting for my life. More than 40 years later, I still have noticeable scars on my neck, right shoulder, right arm, and chest.
The physical recovery from a burn injury is incredibly long and grueling, from skin graft surgeries to rehab to pressure garments to follow-up surgeries. But in many ways, the physical recovery is just the beginning. Burn injuries forever alter a person’s appearance. Burn injuries heal, but the scars don’t disappear. Emotional recovery can be a life-long process.
Social media sites like Facebook have the power to create community connections that can aid in a burn survivor’s emotional recovery. Instead, news broke last week that Facebook removed a photo of Lasse Gustavson, a Swedish firefighter who sustained severe burn injuries to his face on the job. Of all the questionable decisions Facebook has made—and there have been many—this may be among the most grievous.
After removing Gustavson’s photo two times, Facebook acknowledged the incident and reinstated the photo of the firefighter. While some news outlets are reporting that Facebook issued an apology, the “apology” appears to be a fairly typical error message.
I’m willing to give Facebook the benefit of the doubt: the people who work at Facebook agree that the photo should not have been removed. But it appears that Facebook’s removal of images of burn survivors may be a “regular occurrence.” If true, this pattern suggests a flawed algorithm, not a one-time computer glitch.