At just fourteen months old, Keith Edmonds’ life changed forever when his mother’s boyfriend pressed his face against an electric heater. Third-degree burns consumed half his face, and doctors doubted he’d survive the night. He did—and spent years at the Shriners Burn Institute enduring countless surgeries to rebuild his face and his life. Foster care, separation from his mother, and a lenient ten-year sentence for his attacker added to his pain. Children stared, and by thirteen, Keith numbed his trauma with alcohol. Addiction and depression followed him into adulthood.
On his 35th birthday in 2012, something shifted. Mid-binge, he decided he was done living in the dark. He got sober and rebuilt from scratch, finding success in corporate sales with Dell and later Coca-Cola, earning top honors. His scars, visible and raw, became his strength—they told people he understood pain and resilience.
In 2016, Keith founded the Keith Edmonds Foundation, dedicated to helping abused and neglected children. Programs like Backpacks of Love provide essentials for foster kids, while Camp Confidence connects survivors with mentors and lasting support. “We can’t just come into their lives for the camp and then leave,” he says.
Now remarried and grounded in forgiveness, Keith channels his past into purpose. “Some people wear their scars on the inside,” he says. “I wear mine inside and out.” He tells his story in Scars: Leaving Pain in the Past, proving that survival can become service—and that even the deepest wounds can heal when shared to help others.