Tamara Chmielewski and son Boston.Photo:TaylorRae Photo and Film, LLC

April 22, 2023 at the Encanterra Country club in San Tan Valley, AZ

TaylorRae Photo and Film, LLC

ForTami Chmielewski, a trip to Minnesota for a friend’s wedding turned into a battle for her life after being severely burned in afreak campfire accident. Although she didn’t know if she would ever regain the use of her legs, she made a vow to herself to get back on her feet in time towalk her son down the aisle— and on April 22, the “determined” single mom did just that.

Chmielewski, 51, and her eldest son Boston, 29, cried as they started the “nerve-racking” trip down the stairs together.

“I was whispering ‘Please don’t let me fall’ while clutching my son’s arm for balance," she tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.. “He just kept telling me, ‘I won’t, Mom. I promise.'”

Tami Chmielewski and Boston Whitlow.TaylorRae Photo and Film, LLC

April 22, 2023 at the Encanterra Country club in San Tan Valley, AZ: Wedding of Nikki Beard and Boston Whitlow, with Tamara Chmielewski walking her son down the aisle. Also Brooklyn, Tami’s daughter (pregnant). Credit: TaylorRae Photo and Film, LLC

Last August, Chmielewski was standing near a wedding reception bonfire in Minnesota when she saw one of the guests pour accelerant on it. A split second later, she was on fire.

“The liquid acted like a blow torch and the flames just shot straight at me,” says the single mom of four. A friend’s husband even tried tackling her to the ground “but the fire still wouldn’t go out,” she recalls. “My body was burning. Everything was burning,”

When the sheriff’s deputy arrived, she begged him to shoot her to end the pain. “It was excruciating,” she remembers.

Tami Chmielewski.Hennepin Healthcare8BIM

Tamara Chmielewski, 52 of Chandler, AZ, mother of four was severely burned over 30 percent of her body at a bonfire on August 28, 2022. She spent 63 days at Hennequin County Medical Center in Minneapolis then another week back home in Phoenix. Three days after (August 31, 2022). As you can see my entire face was burned -I’m very blessed that I have very minimal scaring on my face at this time. I have the spot in my nose and another right above my lip but both are hardly noticeable. At HCMC Hospital, Minneapolis.

Hennepin Healthcare8BIM

She spent the next 63 days in the hospital with third-degree burns across nearly 40 percent of her body. “I didn’t know if I was going to lose my legs or if I was even going to walk again,” she says.

Before the fire, Chmielewski was a very active, fit woman who loved working out, hiking, biking and spending time with her four children: Boston, twins Brooklyn and Brandi, 25, and Brody, 15.

Tami Chmielewski.Hennepin Healthcare

Tamara Chmielewski, 52 of Chandler, AZ, mother of four was severely burned over 30 percent of her body at a bonfire on August 28, 2022. She spent 63 days at Hennequin County Medical Center in Minneapolis then another week back home in Phoenix. The photo with just one leg and my foot was taken the day the accident occurred. As you can see I lost layers of skin in the fire. You can see skin around my foot that was not removed yet in this photo. It almost looks like I have an ace bandage around my foot but that’s my skin. You can see how deep I burned on my toes which was extremely painful. My sister would stand at the bottom of my bed anytime a nurse or company came into my room because my feet were so sensitive I couldn’t handle anyone bumping them. I wouldn’t even let the nurses put my socks on. I would tell them I didn’t want them on and then when they left my sister would do it. She was just so much more attentive and careful. At HCMC Hospital, Minneapolis 8/28/22. Credit: Hennepin Healthcare

Hennepin Healthcare

When she started physical therapy, she had one goal: to walk her eldest down the aisle on his wedding day. And she wanted to do it in heels. “I was determined,” she says.

For more on Chmielewski’s recovery story, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.

In the hospital, Chmielewski had skin grafts with skin taken from her back, thighs and buttocks. “She just kept saying, ‘I’m not going to let this defeat me,’” Jenson says. But pain from the surgeries and her burns was unbearable. “It was everywhere,” says Chmielewski. “Everything was raw — my stomach, my back, my legs and butt. I was on a lot of medication because there was no position I could be in to escape it.”

Weaning off the powerful pain medication was a very difficult part of her recovery. “Trying to get off the medication was pure hell,” Tami says. Physical therapy was strenuous too. “The workouts were pretty intense — leg presses, pushing weights on a sled, walking lunges, standing on medicine balls,” Chmielewski says.

Tami Chmielewski.Courtesy Tamara Chmielewski8BIM

Tamara Chmielewski, 52 of Chandler, AZ, mother of four was severely burned over 30 percent of her body at a bonfire on August 28, 2022. She spent 63 days at Hennequin County Medical Center in Minneapolis then another week back home in Phoenix. Screen grab from physical therapy: Learning to walk again was after I had another surgery November 2022 to regraft an area on my inner left thigh that was not healing properly and was cause everything from my foot up to contact and wasn’t allowing me to get full motion in my ankle. November 22, 2022. in Arizona at Valleywise Hospital. I woke from surgery with a cast on each leg, they put them on to help try and get the most range of motion in my ankles. Credit: Courtesy Tamara Chmielewski8BIM

Courtesy Tamara Chmielewski8BIM

Finally, after eight months of preparation, Boston helped his mother put on her sparkly rhinestone-covered high heels.

Chmielewski and her son were both crying before they started walking, she says. She told him how proud of him she was, while “he just kept saying, ‘I’m so happy that you’re here. I’m so thankful for you.’ she remembers.

“It was pretty emotional for both of us, and I know she was in a lot of pain,” says Boston.

By the end of the night, the skin on her was raw and bleeding. “She’s definitely got some battle wounds,” says Boston, “but I don’t think she would change a thing."

Wedding of Nikki Beard and Boston Whitlow, with Tami Chmielewski walking her son down the aisle.TaylorRae Photo and Film, LLC

April 22, 2023 at the Encanterra Country club in San Tan Valley, AZ: Wedding of Nikki Beard and Boston Whitlow, with Tamara Chmielewski walking her son down the aisle. Also Brooklyn, Tami’s daughter (pregnant). Credit: TaylorRae Photo and Film, LLC

Chmielewski shares her story hoping that people will learn from her story and not ever pour anything on a fire. “Fire is no joke,” she says.

She regularly looks at the photos of herself immediately after the fire, and during her hospital stay — “It helps me accept the fact that it’s happened and see how far I’ve come" — and hopes to inspire others to push forward.

“We all have scars,” she says. “I wear mine on the outside. You may wear yours on the inside….Remember to love yourself and give yourself grace.”

source: people.com