A call for help

We pull on layers to protect our vulnerable core. When they break, we are exposed and desperate for new shells, but they take time and do not come easily. Sometimes, we borrow them from the dead.

Skin is a natural barrier that shields the human body from external danger, including injury and germs. It sheds older cells and produces a new epidermis every month, but like other body parts, it is naturally susceptible to damage.

Medical advances redefine when life begins and ends. Kept in a small bottle in cold storage, the skin of a deceased donor can help burn victims, including…