‘Last thing I remember I was on fire, mom.’
VERMILLION COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) – 7-year-old Kyler is your typical young boy. He plays basketball and enjoys hanging out with his friends at school.
However, that playful child is now in a hospital bed. Recovering after a bonfire accident this weekend in Cayuga. After word spread, the community has come together.
Inside classroom B 174 at North Vermillion Elementary School, is Mrs. Hall’s first-grade class. However, one desk in the corner of the room sits empty. That desk belongs to Kyler.
“Very likable, lots of friends, cute and adorable, we all miss him,” said Kyler’s first-grade teacher, Tina Hall when describing the kind of student Kyler is.
His classmates are writing thoughtful get well soon cards and sending them to Kyler while he’s in the hospital. Kyler is recovering at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Over the weekend, he was at a friend’s house, when another child was trying to ignite a bonfire and it exploded.
News 10 sat down with Kanae Smith, Kyler’s mother. She said, “He just says the last thing I remember is I was on fire mom. He started crying and said, I forgot to stop drop and roll. And I was like, baby it’s not even your fault.”
His mother says he has a long way to go. Kyler could be in the hospital for the next month and has a few surgeries ahead of him. He suffered first and second-degree burns from his hips to his ankles, on his back, hands and face.
“I honestly never thought in a million years it would be like this,” said Smith.
But, the support from his teacher, classmates, and community is helping Kyler fight through the pain.
Hall added, “There are other people in the community who have visited too, which is really sweet.”
Kyler, with the help of Riley Hospital, had a special delivery to those who are thinking of him. A special bear, to sit in his chair while he’s gone to show his classmates he misses them just as much.
“His spirits, they’re not the greatest right now. He’s mad, he’s upset. He has no idea why in the world this happened to him. When they send things like that, I get little smiles. I’m just like, there we are, there’s my baby. It’s just nice.”
Kyler’s basketball coach has set up a go-fund-me page. Click here if you would like to help Kyler’s family during this process.