Burn Accident

[pop pop]

My 15 year old grandson was burned bad, last Saturday night. He and some of his friends, had a bonfire, as they had a tree go down in a recent storm. The boys lit a brush pile. Most of them were standing on a hay wagon, and Mason jumped off to throw some sticks in the fire. As he reacher over the end of the burn pile someone had thrown a half used can of spray paint in the pile that they did not know about. The paint can exploded as Mason leaned over the fire and set his shirt on fire. He had a pair of his dads flame retardant trousers on which saved his legs from burns.

Little fella has been in the burn unit at Vandserbilt Hospitall in Nashville, however he has been home now for a couple days. He has severe burns on both arms, hands, fingers and head and neck. I think they figured 14% of his body was burned. Guys, it is rough.

My wife goes over and helps our daughter dress his burns daily. He goes back to Vanderbilt on Monday to see if they are doing his wound care well enough to keep him home. He is in terrible pain and it is hard for me to watch them replace the bandages. They fear 3rd degree burns on his arms and hands. Time will tell.

They told him it will be 6 months to a year for him to heal providing he gets no infections.

[Quavodus]

I hope he has a speedy recovery. I wish him the best.

[RED333]

WOW, that is tuff

My prays to the family for a full recovery.

[KahrMan]

Burns are horrible stuff. Hopefully he has a speedy recovery. 

[AuEagle]

Wow, so sorry to hear this. Prayers.

[TripleGGG]

Prayers for healing and pain control! 

[MacGyver]

Vanderbilt’s burn unit is one of the best around.  He should be in good hands there.  

I’m so sorry to hear this.  We’ll keep him and his family in our prayers.  

[dralarms]

Prayers sent. My wife was burned as a child and she’s 58. It’s a long road. We will keep him and the rest of the family in our prayers. 

[gregintenn]

That sucks. Fire and boys often have bad results. It's a wonder any of us ever became a grown man. I'm sure everyone here has at least one related story. I can think of three off the top of my head.

Prayers for his speedy recovery.

[hipower]

My prayers for him, and you and all the family.

[peejman]

Sorry to hear that. Prayers for a speedy recovery. 

[Trekbike]

Sorry to hear about his accident.   Hope he has a speedy recovery.   Will be adding him to my prayer list.   

[Erik88]

So sorry to hear this. 

[Moped]

Prayers for a speedy and full recovery! 

[swiley383]

We have a family friend who’s son had the exact same thing happened a couple years ago. He was also in Vandy burn unit they are the best. He is doing fine now. His burns were on his side and back.

[Garufa]

So sorry to hear of this and hope the boy pulls through quickly.

Unfortunately, ignorance around fire is not limited to teenagers. I’ve barely avoided such incidents among those that think accelerants are funny or the proper way to start a fire.

[Grayfox54]

You have my deepest condolences. I have a nasty set of scars where way back in 1984 a piece of slag off a cutting torch set my work shirt on fire. Damned polyester blend material melted to my arm causing full thickness (3rd degree) burns from just above my elbow all the way up into my arm pit.  Had to have skin grafts to fix it.

The really bad part is preparing the area for the grafts. All the damaged skin and newly forming scar tissue has to be carefully picked and cut away from the damaged area daily for several weeks. It hurts like hell! 

I sincerely hope your Grandson's burns aren't that bad and the treatment has improved since my time.  

Tell him to hang in there. It'll be rough for a while, but it will get better. 

[Esko 270]

So sorry to hear this. 

[Ronald_55]

I hate to hear this. I did lots of dumb stuff with fire as a kid. I would have deserved to be burnt. When it is someone just minding their own business, it doesnt seem fair for them to pay for someone else's stupidity. My Dad and Mom have been to Vanderbuilt for several things over the years. I have always been happy with the care. Hopefully your grandson has to see the inside of the hospital as little as possible due to a speedy and easy recovery. 

[jpx2rk]

Prayers for all of your family and a speedy recovery.  

[pop pop]

Thanks for the well wishes and epically the prayers. He is a tough kid, but ,unfortunately, has a long road to healing completely ahead of him, as many know. His parents are scared of the pain meds, but they must be used in this case. He woke up trembling with pain one morning.

Truly disheartening to see him go through this. He calls me every day.   

[chances R]

Unfortunate and just bad luck.  Doesn’t sound like Mason did anything to cause this.  Burns are terrible injuries but so much can be done now to improve outcomes, especially at burn centers such as Vandy.  Prayers and all the best to the family to deal with this.

[E4 No More]

Really sorry to hear about this and hope that he recovers fully.

[pop pop]

Grandson went to the burn hospital today. Got an excellent report. The burn Dr said his face was healing great and his 3rd degree burns on his arms and neck will not require skin grafts, at this time. He cautioned them on infection and told them that they had to keep up his wound care and keep the 3rd degree burn areas as moist as possible. Also they needed to keep the burn areas covered at all times.

He had a scare this morning. He had scratched the blood out of his arms, in his sleep last evening. Of course he is on pain meds and did not realize he was scratching so hard. The Dr told him/them the itching was normal and to cut his fingernails and put gloves on his hands to keep from scratching so hard at night. This was under his dressings that he did that. The dressings were still on his arms, but had blood on them.

The Dr told them the itching was coming from the regeneration of damaged nerves, and the healing process around the burns themselves.

We are delighted no skin grafts are needed and hope that continues. It takes his mother 2 hours to clean and recover the burn areas twice a day. He has made wonderful progress, the Dr said almost unbeliavible, considering the initial burns.

Our prayers have been answered so thanks all of you who prayed for him and them. Most of all thank a "Loving God" for our great news. We are so encouraged and relieved. Got to be careful of infection, but every day that goes by the chances go down on that also.

Mason asked him about the discoloration on his face, and the Dr was truthful with him. Told him it was going to take time for his coloration to come back, and that it may not come back completely, for sure in the most damaged areas. Being 15 he is worried about his looks and that is totally understandable. He explained it might take 2 years for them to recover completely, or as mush as the will. Dr told him his face will probably recover better than the 3rd degree burns and if his arms do have scaring, that he can wear long sleeve shirts. Told Mason he is a lucky child that most of the worst burns can be covered if he has areas of bad scars. Mason was a little disappointed but relieved that his face most likely will clear up in time. His mother said he was worried about going back to school.

[Grayfox54]

Great news!  Very happy to hear he won't need grafts. 

Tell him that scars are good conversation starters. Girls always want to hear the story.