February 14, 2009

Clay was admitted to the Parkland Memorial Hospital today for extensive burns over his little body. Chance had put a bag of trash in the burn barrel and started the fire then went into town for some things. Carson (age 10), Cody (age 6 - will be 7 on Feb 23) and Clay were out playing in the yard and decided that the fire had burned down too low and needed a little "help" to finish off the trash. One of the boys grabbed a can of gas out of the storage shed and coaxed another to "put it on the fire." Clay had climbed up close to make sure the job was done right, and as the gas hit the fire, it mushroomed up into the sky. Deidra was in the house and heard the explosion and immediately ran out the back. The front of Carson's pant leg was on fire and he managed to get it out then helped put out the fire that had started in the yard and on the fence. Cody was hitting flames off the back of his neck and somehow extinguished them. He only suffered minor burns to the back of his neck and a burn on the back of his right ear and singed hair. Although his brothers were partially protected by the burn barrel itself, Clay was right in the line of the fire, and when DeeDee saw him he was engulfed in flames. In DeeDee's panic, she grabbed the water hose and doused Clay to put out the fire. The 911 call that DeeDee placed claimed that they could not pinpoint the address. With 911 on the line and calling Chance from her cell phone, Chance ended up arriving within seconds from the grocery store. Chance immediately scooped up Clay and had him at the hospital in no time. The two other boys were taken to the hospital, treated and released. Clay ended up with burns on his face, head, back, stomach, arms, hands. He was wearing boots and jeans so the lower parts of his legs are fine. Clay was flown to Dallas with his dad by his side. Some friends drove DeeDee (she was in no condition to drive)to Dallas and they arrived within 15 minutes of the helicopter. Clay is in critial condition in the Burn Intensive Care Unit here at Parkland Memorial Hospital. The wonderful care of the staff in the burn unit has been great. Not only the staff, but other families of burn victims have been a huge help to the Fite family during this time.