8.19.2008

A Sad Story...

So almost TWO WEEKS AGO (yes I know, and I'm just NOW blogging about it...) our sweet little friend Kai stepped in a fire pit at the beach and burned one of his feet. It was daytime, and the fire pit was full of white ash - that someone neglected to cover with sand/douse with water - and he happened to step up onto the cement edge and slipped in.

It all happened so fast, but the next thing I remember is Kai jumping up and down screaming that he needed a life guard. So Tori dropped her stuff, scooped him up in her arms and took off running toward a life guard tower. Now, if you've ever been to Huntington, you know how far away the life guard towers are from the fire pits, so it's not easy to get to. I was left standing there in total shock at what had happened, with Jack (her 2 year old) and all three of my boys, staring after her while she ran. Then Jakob and Joshy started chasing her, and Jack was kind of following also, so I tried to grab her stuff, plus my stuff, plus the baby and after about 10-15 steps realized I couldn't carry all that! By then she had reached the tower, and I saw a life guard truck approaching from the other end of the beach.

Well, by the time we made it there, they were pouring cold water on his foot, and Tori was crying saying "His skin is just falling off!" Jakob watched it all, but of course if you know Jakob he was fascinated, not traumatized! Kai was very brave and was barely even crying. The life guards told Tori to take him to the ER, so they left and took him to Hoag. He was sent home that night, and was told to go to UCI the next day, where he was actually admitted to the Pediatric Unit.

He has 2nd degree burns on all of his toes and the top of his foot. They have to scrub it and clean it every day, and because of the pain (can you imagine it???) they actually had to totally sedate him to do it, and ended up moving him to the Burn ICU. POOR KAI!!!! They had a special Burn Team come and evaluate him, and they said he shouldn't need surgery...but now there is one spot of dead skin that isn't coming off and he may have to have a skin graft...we're praying that won't be necessary.

The boys are so cute in their prayers asking for Kai's foot to get better soon. We've gone to visit him a few times, and he always has a smile on his face when we see him and I bet all of the nurses there are just totally in love with him. We don't know when he'll get to come home, but we hope it will be soon!


Jakob, Kai & Joshy (of course he wouldn't smile!)

Here's Kai trying to get Joshy to smile!

We love you and miss you Kai! Keep up the good spirits and know that we're all praying for you!!!

EVERYONE PLEASE BE EXTRA CAREFUL AND KEEP YOUR KIDS AWAY FROM FIRE PITS!

3 comments:

Kim Harvey said...

Of gosh! Poor Kai and poor Tori! That is so terrible. I wish I would have known, I would have called her. I will call her today...Thanks for the info. Gosh, what a traumatic event. We will definitely have that sweet little boy in our prayers.

Evaly said...

Alright, this is my THIRD time trying to leave a comment! My internet keeps cutting out- GRRR. Anyway, I hope Kai gets better! It sounds like it was good that you were there to take Jack!

Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke said...

wow, how scary! he looks like a happy kid despite his ailment.