After suffering extensive burns as a toddler from a household fire, Republic Urban Properties President Michael Van Every plans to establish a fund to support Valley Medical Center’s Regional…
When people meet Michael Van Every, his boisterous, outgoing personality is hard to miss. But sooner or later, they’ll notice his facial scarring or the misshapen fingers on his right hand.
Now, Van Every wants to give back to the institution he believes saved his life, the Burn Center at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. He is establishing a fund with the Valley Medical Center Foundation — seeded with a sizable donation by Michael and his wife, Jennifer Van Ever. The fund would be the beneficiary of a fundraising event later this year that they hope becomes an annual tradition.
VMC’s Regional Burn Center is the only one in the Bay Area verified by the American Burn Association and American College of Surgeons for its quality of care, and is just one of three regional burn centers between Los Angeles and the Oregon border. In 2022, 227 patients were admitted to the burn ICU, and an additional 300 patients received care from burn center staff in the emergency room and pediatrics.
The Uniform Plumbing Code didn’t require gas water heaters to be installed with a clearance of 18 inches above the ground until 1976. So the house’s water heater was on the ground, and the pilot light was right in the path of the gas Michael was mopping toward it. When his parents found him, they rolled him on the grass and wrapped him in a blanket to smother the flames and put him in the bathtub. San Jose Police were the first to respond, and the officer – to this day, the Van Every family wishes they knew his name – saw the severity of the burns and insisted on taking Michael to the hospital immediately without waiting for an ambulance.
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