Meet the Author
Charlene Pell
Charlene Pell is the founder and executive director of Facing Forward, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals with congenital or acquired facial or physical differences contend with staring, improve control of social interactions, and communicate confidently. Thirty years ago, Pell survived a catastrophic plane crash that burned 64 percent of her body, severely injuring her face and hands.
As a result of her disfigurement and the lack of psychosocial resources available to her during her recovery, Pell researched and created programs and resources to help herself and others
adjust to their changed appearance and circumstances. Since 1998, she’s shared her insights as a keynote speaker at conferences for burn survivors and healthcare professionals. She created a nationwide program titled “What to Do When People Stare: A Workshop to Teach Individuals with Disfiguring Conditions to Contend With Staring and Improve Control of Social Interactions.” Her work has been published in Skin, Psychology Today, the American Burn Association’s Journal of Burn Care & Research, and other periodicals.
Before her accident, Pell was vice president of communications for one of the most prominent
design centers in the United States, the Design Center of the Americas. She managed and administered its marketing strategy and created extensive public relations programs in
cooperation with Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Interior Design, and many other publications. Pell has a master’s in communication studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with her husband.
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In This Altered Body: A Survivor’s Story or Resilience and Love
By Pell, Charlene
Charlene Pell wears her scars like badges of honor—she has never hidden them.
Thirty years ago, on a sunny afternoon, Charlene was on a private flight to Cat Island, Bahamas, when the unthinkable happened: the plane, piloted by her fiancé, experienced a mechanical problem and crashed in a fiery inferno. When Charlene awoke, she discovered that 64 percent of
her body had been burned, and her fiancé had died.
In This Altered Body is the compelling story of Charlene’s physical and emotional odyssey to reclaim her life and identity after surviving a tragedy that left her facially disfigured and
grieving. As Charlene begins the long, painful process of recovery, she fears she will never be loved again, because her outward beauty has been destroyed and our society, obsessed with flawless skin and superficial beauty, stigmatizes disfigurement. But through dogged determination, Charlene overcomes difficult obstacles both physical and emotional—and learns from the experiences of other burn survivors to never write off her dreams and to be open to possibilities . . . including love. Brimming with insight from a life of perseverance,
In This Altered Body is a piercing memoir about tragic loss and the resilience of the human spirit.
Pell’s bold, inspiring memoir challenges readers to deeper empathy and to confront preconceived notions and biases about disfigurement.
– BookLife Review
“Charlene Pell is a talented writer and storyteller, and as such, “In This Altered Body” is a gripping memoir you won’t want to put down”
from book review, Lake Norman Woman magazine July 2024
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