BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
In August, Union County Commissioner Jimmy Tallman experienced an accident at his business, North Florida Meats. Tallman had gone to an outbuilding to check on a smoker, which he found turned off with the gas feed still open. He turned off the gas, opened the building to air it out, left for about an hour, and then returned. Upon smelling no gas, he attempted to light the smoker. The smoker exploded, blowing Tallman out of the building in a blast of flame. He was badly burned in the incident.
According to Tallman’s brother, Richard Androlevitch, an ambulance was called, which transported Tallman to Sprinkle Field in Lake Butler, meeting a helicopter that was ready to transport him to Shands Trauma Center in Gainesville. The flight was made in 10 minutes. Upon arrival at the trauma center, Tallman was examined and sent to the burn unit. He was determined to have sustained mainly third-degree burns, with some deep second degree, on his hands, arms, chest, back, face and eyes. Androlevitch said he was enroute to the hospital and arrived at the burn unit as Tallman was being treated.
5 surgeries and new treatment
Tallman was immediately put on a respirator while his airway was still relatively open, before this throat began to swell or become infected. At the burn unit he underwent five surgeries to removed dead and burn-damaged tissue from the wounds, which were then bandaged in cadaver skin, which will not stick to the burns as will conventional dressings.
Shands personnel used a relatively new burn treatment on Tallman – an autologous skin spray. According to a report on the Temple Health website, the spray is made by taking a small area of healthy skin from the patient and immersing it in an enzyme solution to form a liquid suspension. This suspension is sprayed directly on the entire burn would, then covered with human cadaver skin as a bandage. The spray treatment is primarily used on patients burned on more than 20% of their body surface, as well as on facial and hand burns.
Tallman’s burns covered about 70% of his skin surface. The skin sample used to make the spray takes a piece of skin about the size of a credit card, which becomes enough liquid to cover an average patient’s entire back. This treatment results in faster healing, less pain, less chance of infection and decreased scaring, improving joint mobility.
50% chance of survival
Over the next few days, Tallman developed pneumonia, sepsis and a blood fungus and was out in dialysis. He was sedated to put him in a medically induced coma state to allow the use of an Ecmo life support system, as his lungs could not handle the amount of fluid leaking from the damaged tissue. He was given just a 50% chance of surviving this process. Tallman had been transferred to the thoracic department for the Ecmo treatment – often referred to as a “last chance life support.” While his lungs were healing enough to do their jobs he remained on the Ecmo unit, despite a danger of blood clots, infection and bleeding. After about 10 days his lungs recovered their ability to function the machine kept his blood properly oxygenated. He was then transported back to the burn unit, where the breathing apparatus was removed, and he was intubated to ensure his airway stayed open.
Rapid improvement
“The doctors, nurses and medical staff were unbelievable,” Androlevitch said. “He started improving rapidly. They expected the intubation to have to remain in place for about six months but were able to remove it after about four weeks.”
Tallman is now off all pain medications, awake and alert. He has minimal, if any, scarring. He is starting physical and occupational therapy and is already walking with the assistance of a walker. He is predicted to be fully mobile in about two weeks.
“We almost lost him twice,” Androlevitch said, “and now they are predicting a full recovery. He has a really positive attitude and is looking forward to life and returning to work. He never complained through it all and is grateful to his family and friends for all their support.”
Makes video appearance at county commission meeting
At the Oct. 21, 2024, regular meeting of the Union County Board of County Commissioners, where Tallman’s seat at the table is decorated with a large yellow ribbon, County Coordinator Jimmy Williams played a short video made by Tallman from the hospital. Tallman spoke clearly but slowly as he thanked his fellow commissioners, friends and members of the community for their thoughts, prayers and messages to him during his ordeal. He said he loved his fellow commissioners, the county staff and the people of Union County and expressed the gratitude he felt at being alive and soon able to return to the community he loves.
This meeting would have been Tallman’s last as a county commissioner, as he had chosen not to run for re-election but to retire instead. At the board’s next meeting, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2024, Melissa Dukes McNeal will take Tallman’s former seat and begin her first term as a county commissioner. She was elected in the Aug. 20, 2024, primary election.
