By JODI SOKOLOWSKI
Buffalo Law Journal

Colleen Wood woke up the evening of May 13 to an intense wall of flames blocking the only exit to her attic apartment. She quickly found her cat, Bailey, and both of them jumped out of the bathroom window to the ground.

Both survived, but Wood, a 33-year-old labor/employment attorney, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 20 percent of her body, as well as a broken leg.

After hearing of Wood's tragedy, Kevin Hourihan and Eugene Salisbury, both attorneys at Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP, where Wood previously worked, decided to organize a fundraiser for Wood. She faces mounting medical and living expenses after two months at Erie County Medical Center, including two weeks in the hospital's burn trauma unit, where staff performed skin grafts.

"I can't imagine waking up one day not having a toothbrush, couch or a pair of socks and having all the medical and rehab bills to contend with," said Hourihan, an associate at Lipsitz Green. "Whatever we can do to make her current situation a little better, that's what we're attempting to do."

While she knew something was in the works, Wood didn't know anything was "set in stone" for the benefit until the Buffalo Law Journal called.

"I'm just touched. It's wonderful," said Wood, who clerked at Lipsitz Green during law school and practiced labor law there for six years. "For as bad as it was, it's one of the nicest things that happened to me, to see how people care."

Wood said Creighton Pearce Johnsen Giroux, where she's worked for two years, has also been supportive.

The fundraiser, costing $25 a ticket, will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13, at Ilio DiPaolo's Restaurant, 3785 South Park Ave., Blasdell. The event will include a 50/50 raffle and a silent auction. Checks payable to Colleen Wood should be mailed to Colleen Wood Benefit, c/o Eugene Salisbury, 42 Delaware Ave., Suite 120, Buffalo, NY 14202.

In addition to going to physical therapy to help reduce a limp that she may always have, Wood is trying to organize her insurance copay bills and seek a deferment for student loans. She said she's getting disability checks of $160 a week, and plans to return to legal practice in a couple of months.

"It was nice maybe for a week or so, but I can't stand being home not doing anything," said Wood, who has recently moved into a new apartment after staying with her parents for a couple of weeks.

The Erie County Bar Foundation, which cannot disclose specific cases, exists to help lawyers like Wood who face personal and professional tragedies.

"I can't express what people have done. It just blows my mind," she said.