ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) - A horse trainer, badly burned trying to save her horses during the Lilac Fire is on the path to healing.
10News caught up with Martine Bellocq at Palomar Medical Center in downtown Escondido.
"It's a long, long journey," Bellocq said.
Bellocq was trying to save her horses at the San Luis Rey training center when the Lilac Fire swept through in December. She saved many, but the one she came back for was her horse, Wild Bill Hickory, nicknamed "Billy." Billy was too afraid to leave his stable.
RELATED: Woman badly burned trying to rescue horses from San Luis Ray Training Center
"When you're a horse person, your horse comes first," she said. "(My horse) didn’t want to come out. It was smoking. There was fire, and I just went outside, and I just collapsed."
Her husband, Pierre, found her outside, put her on a golf cart and found emergency crews that rushed her to the hospital.
She had burns on about 60 percent of her body. She had to undergo dialysis. Doctors were worried about organ failure and her body shutting down. She had to endure a tracheotomy and lost a leg.
Bellocq's husband has been with her every step of the way, through nearly 10 surgeries. For the past few weeks, she has been spending three hours a day building her strength.
She will soon be getting a prosthetic leg, and says she will be released from the hospital next week.
"I don’t think it's going to change my style of living or thinking," Bellocq said.
A GoFundMe started for Bellocq has raised $28,991 of it's $30,000 goal. All funds will go directly to the Bellocq family through Stefanie Hincks, Martine's daughter, and will be used for medical treatment and rebuilding.
