Last Thursday night my youngest son Daniel had to be life flight to Vanderbilt Med Center in Nashville Tn. A 55 gal metal drum which had brake fluid residue/fumes in it exploded when he set it down next to a burn barrel where he was burning trash. Daniel has burns on his face, neck and right arm from his elbow to his wrist. The explosion also broke his jaw on the right side as well as puncturing his right ear drum.
Originally Thursday he was put on a ventilator to keep his air passages open. The trauma team was concerned that the fumes that he may have breathed into his lungs could close those passages and also have damaged his lungs. This since has been removed and it appears there is no damage to his lungs and he was able to breath on his own. His face was so swollen they also thought he might have additional broken bones in his face but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
As of yesterday 90% of the burns are 1st and 2nd degree and 2 small patches on his face are 3rd degree which we still don’t know if skin grafting will be necessary. We also will have follow up appointments with the nose-ear people to determine if a skin graft will be necessary to close the hole in Daniels right ear. Follow up appointments with the Surgeons for his jaw and appointments with the Burn Team follow-up will begin this week as well.
We got Daniel home last night he has to have someone with him 24/7 because he is very unsteady on his feet due to the ear problem-also at least for now he is unable to shower/dry off on his own as well as most things we all take for granted. BUT this could have been fatal-and we are so thankful to the Lord that it wasn’t worse than it is. Our family will appreciate your prayers for Daniel. Rick
