Posted 8/23/01
Stacy boy recovering from 3rd degree burns
By Jason Sileo
Seven-year-old Bob Lawrence of Stacy has a message for other youngsters his age: ìDonít play with fire, matches, lighters or gas.î
Bob can tell you that because, in his own words, ìI learned the hard way not to play with gas and fire.î
Young Bob suffered severe, third degree burns to his upper right arm and torso the evening of Aug. 6 when he and his 8-year-old brother, Bill, were trying to get a small fire going in a coffee can outside their parentsí home.
The boys had permission to have the fire, as they were apparently planning to roast marshmallows over the flames, but things went terribly wrong when the boys decided to coax their homemade stove along with a coffee cup full of gasoline.
ìTheyíve been around fire enough that I thought they were responsible enough,î the boysí mother, Kathi Lawrence, said in wake of the incident last week.
She credits God for Bobís good fortune ó that he was not burned any worse and that his older brother went unscathed by the flames.
ìThey started the fire in the coffee can, and I guess it wasnít going good enough,î Kathi said. ìAnd the minds of little boys thought, ëletís go get a little bit of gas.íî
Kathi said her husband, Bruce, often starts outdoor fires in the same manner ó that her children had perhaps learned by example... that kids using gasoline in concert with fire starting was ëokay.í
ìWe gave them permission to have the fire,î Kathi said. ìWe didnít tell them they couldnít use gas. They didnít do anything wrong.î
When the sticks, leaves and twigs in the can wouldnít take, the boys retrieved the coffee cup full of gas from a can used for the lawn mower. They returned to douse the contents of the can.
ìBill poured the cup on the fire, and the fire trailed up to the cup,î Kathi said. ìHe threw the cup past Bob and the fumes are what caught Bob on fire: the fumes are what burn so hot.î
There was a moment of terror then as Bobís arm was engulfed in flames.
ìThank God my kids listened at school, because Bill told Bob to stop, drop and roll, and thatís what he did,î Kathi said. After hearing the commotion, the adults arrived on the scene shortly thereafter.
Bruce quickly took Bob indoors and ran the burned portions of his body under cold water, while Kathi immediately dialed 911.
ìWeíre told that the cold water is what saved his arm from being worse than it is,î Kathi said.
Bob suffered burns to his right arm, from about the elbow up to the arm pit, and the right side of his torso directly underneath the arm. His shirt was not burned, miraculously. Kathi knows it could have been worse.
ìItís a miracle,î she said. ìItís a miracle. Itís amazing it didnít get his face, his hair... not his neck. Heís very lucky. He is just very lucky.î
Kathi said Bob was screaming in pain the entire time and that she clutched him by his good left shoulder and told him to say a prayer.
ìI told him to say a prayer, and he didnít scream again after that,î she said. ìWhen he said that prayer, I believe the good Lord came down and calmed that child. People can say he went into shock, but itís our faith ó and I believe the good Lord protected those boys because thereís no reason why I donít have two kids in the emergency room.î
Kathiís neighbor John Dare, a first responder, was on the scene almost immediately after the emergency call went out, Kathi said, and began critical first aid procedures upon his arrival.
ìHe was here within minutes,î she said of Dare.
ìIt was amazing to see all the ways that people helped,î she said. ìThe firemen were here within minutes and every one of them was so calm and collected; they knew just did what they needed to do.î
Young Bob was rushed by ambulance to Regions Hospital where he underwent several surgeries to repair the burn damage. Doctors took a large skin graft from his scalp to place on the burned portions of his body. Kathi said she was told his hair would begin growing back this week.
Bob was set to undergo another surgery last Thursday, ìto remove the staples from his head and see how the skin grafts are doing... then we go from there,î Kathi said.
She said the most important thing now is to try to get Bobís message out there so no other youngsters and their loving families have to endure what the Lawrences and Bob have since that fateful evening Aug. 6. Nobody wants to sit around and tell others how ëluckyí their son or daughter was to have escaped without more serious burns.
We asked Bob what he would tell other youngsters his age about his frightening and painful experience:
ìI would tell them not to play with fire,î he said. ìBecause this is what would happen to you... it could. Iíd tell them not to use gas and not to play with fire, or matches, or lighters or gas.î
ìYeah,î he said finally. ìI learned the hard way not to play with gas and fire.î