ESCONDIDO: Burn victim Allyson Roach engaged, to wed in January

By GARY WARTH - Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 21, 2008 1:29 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- Like any young couple in love, Allyson Roach and Chris Watson are thinking of the future.

Marriage? Sometime in January, somewhere in Escondido. A family of their own? Someday. Definitely.

Plans are precious things for Roach. Just four years ago, she didn't know what her tomorrows would bring.

Much of San Diego County already knows Roach. Her family's tragic story brought a wave of sympathy and tears in the wake of the Oct. 26, 2003, Paradise fire that destroyed their home, burned and disfigured Roach and took the life of her younger sister, Ashleigh.

Roach, 27, spent two months in the hospital for treatment to burns on 85 percent of her body. All her fingers were amputated; she has had 10 reconstructive surgeries and still has severe scarring on her arms, eyelids, mouth, lips, ears, jaw and neck.

But those injuries were not enough to keep her from pursuing a normal and active life. She and her family created two nonprofits in memory of her sister, the Ashleigh Roach Memorial Scholarship Foundation (www.armscholarship.org) and the Ashleigh Roach Memorial Burn Foundation (www.armbf.org).

She also has worked and attended college classes.

And now, she has fallen in love.

"We were both working at the Wild Animal Park," Roach said in an interview at Watson's family home in Escondido, where he grew up. "We were on our lunch break. I guess something I said just sparked his attention."

"I think more, it was just the way she talked," said Watson, 27. "She seemed really outgoing. Silly. Friendly."

Watson was working in the buildings and grounds department of the Wild Animal Park and Roach was a photographer, taking pictures of guests. She since has taken a job at Bob Knight Photography, which assigned her to photograph the University of Southern California graduation and keynote speaker Geena Davis last week.

Watson, who still works at the Wild Animal Park and is a cook at Stone World Bistro in Escondido, said he didn't know who Roach was when they first had lunch in December, but soon realized that he has known her sister-in-law for about 13 years.

In another small-world coincidence, Watson's mother, Raeanne, is a registered nurse who works at Palomar Medical Center with Roach's mother, Lori, an emergency room nurse.

Roach used to see her future mother-in-law at Palomar. Her surgeries were performed on the same floor Raeanne Watson worked.

The couple's first date last December was Starbucks and the movie "I Am Legend." Things progressed quickly after that.

By April, Watson was almost part of the Roach family, joining in with their long tradition of dressing in period costumes for the annual Escondido Renaissance Faire in Felicita Park.

Roach said she had a feeling he was planning to propose there.

"Sometimes a girl just knows," she said.

But Watson threw her off by not waiting for their dinner date. Instead, he popped the question during the fair, while they both were in full romantic Renaissance costume.

Roach, who was recognized last October with a "Patients of Courage: Triumph Over Adversity" award by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, has been called a role model and an inspiration. At the moment, she is embracing her new role as bride-to-be.

"San Diego really did a lot for my family, and getting married is a way to show them that my life has gone on," she said. "Their contributions have helped me succeed. San Diego County donated things like furniture for our rental home, money for my surgeries, even blood. I had get-well cards from schools as far away as Australia, but mostly from San Diego."

The cards, stuffed animals and letters fill two large storage boxes. Some day, she said, she hopes to make some very big scrapbooks.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.