BP donates $12.5 million to hospital burn unit
GALVESTON — Anger and frustration still linger for Roger Rodriguez about his son’s death at the BP PLC refinery explosion. Today, those feelings were mixed with gratitude and hope after the 15 people killed in the Texas City explosion were honored with a $12.5 million donation to the hospital burn unit that treated the most critically injured by the blast….The donation by BP to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston was part of a settlement between the London-based oil company and the daughter of two workers killed in the blast, which also injured 170 people….”That these donations are made in the memory of all who lost their lives, that makes a difference,” said Eva Rowe, who last month settled her lawsuit against BP for the deaths of James Rowe, 48, and Linda Rowe, 47, of Hornbeck, La. It was one of a series of BP donations, which could total $38 million, as part of the settlement. Rowe said she hopes the donations will give meaning to the deaths of the victims.
Eva Rowe had every right to be bitter and vindictive. She had every reason to be selfish, angry, and absorbed in the enormity of her own grief. After all, her parents died horrible, senseless deaths, and Eva Rowe never had an opportunity to say goodbye to the parents she adored.
Amazingly, though, even after Rowe and her attorneys held BP’s collective nutsack to the fire, she decided that she would do something to demonstrate that her parents didn’t die in vain. Her parents may have died because BP was sloppy and willing to cut corners, but Eva Rowe was determined that something good would come out of her personal tragedy. The UTMB burn unit will be but one beneficiary of Rowe’s determination to make a difference.
Some people would sink into anger, bitterness, and recrimination…and who could blame them? No one deserves to die the way James and Linda Rowe died. If proper procedures had been followed, if BP hadn’t been so willing to cut corners in pursuit of the bottom line, if BP hadn’t been so cavalier in it’s commitment to safety, perhaps the Rowes would still be alive, and Eva Rowe would be just another anonymous small-town Louisiana girl…which, I imagine, would be her preference. What greed, sloppiness, and inattention ripped asunder, though, Eva Rowe is trying to put back together in her own inimitable way. And I can’t help but admire her for her compassion, her selflessness, and her determination to make something good out of a horrible, incomprehensible personal tragedy. Not many of us would be able to make lemonade out of lemons in the manner Eva Rowe has.
When you’re looking for heroes, when you’re looking for people to hold up as examples of goodness, compasssion, and decency to your children, you could do a whole lot worse than Eva Rowe. She’s a living memorial to the fact that her parents clearly did an outstanding job in raising a quality human being. Wherever they, I would imagine they’re beaming with pride…and justifiably so.
Would that I could be so generous, selfless, and magnanimous were I to be in a similar situation.
