Funds Sought For Burned Sparta Woman

One minute, Joan Polny was lighting tiki candles on her porch, and the next she was caught in a blistering inferno that enveloped 51 percent of her body in third-degree burns.

Polny now is in a medically induced coma at St. Barnabus Hospital and lacking insurance to pay for her treatment, according to her friends Jesse and Amanda Dawson.

“My husband Jesse did work at her house. He told me about her accident and that she has no health insurance. He wanted to know if I knew of anything we could do,” Amanda Dawson said. “So I looked up fundraisers and found give forward.com.”

GiveForward was designed to fundraise online to support a loved ones during a medical crisis. Dawson set up the account with Polny’s son, Jerome Quiles, as the beneficiary.

“I was amazed when people started donating,” Dawson said.

Polny was found by Sparta Police after a neighbor called 9-1-1 reporting a fire at her Arapaho Trail home.

Sgt. John Beebe said patrol found a small fire burning on the deck of the front porch which was quickly put out, and next to the porch, lying on the ground, the rescue workers found Polny.

“She was found with her clothes burned right off of her body and incapable of speaking,” Dawson said. “Joan was burned on 51% of her body.”

According to Dawson, Polny’s first surgery was successful, and they were able to remove dead skin from her torso.

“They were unable to do skin graft due to no healthy tissue. They put temporary cover on until she grows new tissue to attach skin grafts to,” Dawson said.

Dawson said that if Polny is stable, there might be more surgery for her on Monday.

“She is financially unstable and has no health insurance. She needs our help,” Dawson said. “She is one of the sweetest ladies we know and would do the same for anyone else.”