This is one of those stories where the sensible side of your brain reminds you that it's a rare tragedy, most likely won't happen to your child, you're safe, you're safe, you're safe. The crazy side of your brain, though, thinks you and yours are surely the next victim.
In a Minnesota hospital, a baby born three weeks early, was wearing an oxygen hood -- a device that fits over the face and supplies extra oxygen -- when something caused a fire to ignite. Nurses immediately put out the fire, but the tiny infant was burned. He is in critical but stable condition in a hospital burn unit.
Dr. Leslie Smith said the infant will probably survive. But he
suffered second- and third-degree burns over nearly a fifth of his
body, including his head, shoulders, part of his face and the tops of
his hands, Smith said.
"This is our first experience with burns at this age," said Dr. George Peltier, a plastic surgeon at the burn center.
Doctors say the boy, who weighs 8 pounds and was just 12 hours old when the fire burned him, will have use of his hands and fingers and he shoud have a normal life. The family's lawyers say they are focusing on their little boy and have not yet considered suing.
The lawyer delivered this kicker, when saying the family was coping as best they could:
"This is a mother who's never held her son, who's not allowed to touch her son."
