The Burning.....

We have had a crazy and scary couple of days. As many of you know Austin was burned by a gasoline fire. Many want to hear the whole story but just like any incident like this, you get tired of telling it over and over again so I thought posting the story here will make it so everyone can read the story if they want to know. First a warning I AM posting pictures of the injuries. So if you don't like that kind of thing, reading this post is NOT for you! Though the pictures don't look as bad as they did in person. (That's what I get for having a horrible camera.) They are still graphic. The worse ones are at the burn clinic. On with the story!












I went to a tupperware party at our friends', the Joneses, house. Yes, a tupperware party started the whole chain of events! Andrew and Merrill were outside with all the kids while us women were inside learning all about the cool products we could buy.

Andrew saw some wood that needed to be burned and suggested that they start a fire. They lit a few matches but they didn't take so Merrill suggested putting a little gas on it to get it going. They shooed Austin and Daimian back away from the fire pit, then They added the gas on the opposite side of where the matches were. As the gas was being added, the gasoline shifted in the container causing more to be added and it ignited big and fast! The fire started going back up the stream of gasoline to go back into the canister. Merrill reacted and as he moved, it made a stream of burning gasoline land on the kids (Austin and Daimian) and Andrew. Andrew seeing that he was on fire dropped and rolled. Merrill saw Austin running away and got him to stop running in time to see that his own child's head was on fire so he ran to help him. My brother-in-law, Scott was out there playing with Gavin and took over with Austin and starting patting away to try and stop the flames. At that point Andrew got his flames out and ran to Austin. He smeared Austin's face into the dirt to get the flames out and rolled him back and forth to get Austin's fire out. Then Austin was rushed inside for cold water. That is when I got to see what the crying I heard outside was about. I was unaware of the fire and thought that Austin was coming in with a bad head gash or something. So as he went to the kitchen sink Andrew said "Austin is burned!" I was so confused at first, how could he be burned? I went right over to inspect him. I saw right away they he needed medical attention. He already had a few blisters that developed and popped. I found our Medicaid card and sent Austin and Andrew off in the car to get him taken care of.

At that point Daimian was brought in. His hair was completely singed and some burn spots noticeable. Merrill and Corinne quickly got him in a tub of water and decided he didn't need medical attention. I got to Gavin who was confused and concerned about what happened but once I held him he calmed down and got down and started playing. As the adrenaline started to wear off, the reality started sinking in; all I could think about is how I should be at the hospital, and started crying. As I said it hadn't registered yet what this all meant. I asked the Joneses to watch Gavin and asked Scott to drive me to the ER.

I was brought back immediately and see 2 or 3 nurses around Austin, and Andrew among the mix.  Andrew gave him a sweet and powerful blessing. After the doctor arrived and stated that he doesn't want to touch it at all but they would but some burn free on it and call Primary Children's where we would most likely be admitted to watch him overnight. At that news I start to tear up, and also thought that the doctor was overreacting to the burn....

At the ER. Right when I first arrived.

  As some of you may remember I burned my hand in High School my Sophomore year. I was cooking bacon, left the pan on the stove with the heat still on. As it was brought to my attention, I picked up the pan, forgetting about the grease in bottom, and poured the grease down my hand, causing 3rd degree burns on my right hand and some spots worse than that.

Getting that thumb taken care of!

Austin's face didn't look as bad as that, which I am grateful for, except the ear had started swelling a lot more. I was concerned about that part. They gave Austin a shot for pain and gave him an IV. They had a hard time finding his vein. (Sorry Austin, looks like you have my veins!) We were able to get him calmed down for the IV and they got him a movie to watch as we waited to see what the game plan was going to be.

Sometime during all this over at the Joneses home they built another fire. Yes, another fire. They built it to show Daimian that there wasn't a reason to be scared of the fire and that what happened doesn't happen normally. They then had a calming prayer for Austin. While they were saying it Daimian suddenly sat up and said "Austin is OK." He said that so matter of factly it was hard not to believe him. It was like he knew.

The doctor told us that the U of U was having a burn clinic the next morning so we wouldn't need to be admitted. He also said they didn't sound as concerned as he was about the burn.

During this whole event Austin was mostly concerned about the burn on his thumb. Not the big burn on his head. Silly kid.

The next morning we called at 8 to get an appointment and were told they were only open til 10:30am. Andrew told me that and I was out the door. I didn't even wait for him to find out any instructions. I was saying so many little prayers on my way down there that I would be able to make it through the traffic quickly and easily. And amazingly enough, the cars almost seemed to part for me. It was a good thing that I didn't run into any traffic on the way there because there was a Marathon going on in SLC and it cut right across the easiest street to get to U of U. I again started praying to have there be a large break so all the cars ahead of me could get through. And only moments later all the cars ahead of me were able to get through and then I had to wait just a few more minutes for me to cross. I made it to the hospital at 10:10. If it weren't for the marathon, I would have been there at 10. It was such a relief that we made it and could get him taken care of. I'm not great with instructions, so just the fact I made it was a miracle in itself.

In the waiting room at U of U burn clinic waiting for our turn.

I gave him a James train and Percy train as a small gift for being so good.

Cutting off the bandage for the first reveal since the accident

Doesn't that make you hurt? He only whimpered a little as they rubbed the dead skin off.

Drawing as we waited for the nurse practitioner.

Still happy after the hands on cleaning job. A little swollen on that side.

Austin wanted a picture of his poor thumb that he obsesses over.

His coloring book for being a good patient. They also gave him 24 crayons to go with it. When we left the hospital they fell out all over the ground. Luckily some bystanders helped me pick them all up!

We are so grateful that things didn't turn out differently. So many things could have been worse. The first being that if Andrew hadn't of been telling the boys to get back a little farther, Austin wouldn't have burned his ear but his face! The other big one being, if Merrill didn't react the way he did the fire could have been worse, making a bigger explosion of fire. Austin's ear is already looking so great, we can't help but know he is being looked after by a higher power and will be back to better in no time. We won't know until our appointment on the 1st if there will be scarring. Thank you for all of your concerns and offers! Austin feels so loved.