Landon Spencer is counting down the days to his homecoming from the hospital like most 3-year-olds count down the days until Christmas.
Landon will return home next week after weeks of surgeries and rehabilitation following a flash fire at his Rome Township home.
Landon, his sister Alyssa, 7, and his father, Bill Spencer, were injured three weeks ago when a small bonfire ignited a plastic gasoline can, causing a flash fire, Rome Township Fire Chief Ed Koziol said.
Landon suffered severe burns on his face, neck, hands, arms and legs, family friend Jo Hannah Leyda said.
Bill Spencer also suffered severe burns on his face and body. Both underwent skin graft surgery last week. Bill Spencer may come home Tuesday, Landon will likely spend another week at the Cleveland Metro Health Medical Center, Leyda said.
“They are progressing and doing well,” Leyda said. “The area of grafting was not a huge area, but Landon was burned badly.”
Leyda said father and son will wear protective clothing for six months to prevent scar tissue from forming over the newly grafted skin.
“Overall, the family has had some hard days,” Leyda said. “Some days are just harder than others. This is a painful process of healing, a real daily struggle. Coming home is really the beginning of the next step of their recovery.”
A support fund for the Spencer family has been established at Huntington Bank, Leyda said. Donations can be made at any Huntington Bank branch.
Bill Spencer, an employee at Plastic Extrusion Technologies in Middlefield, has health insurance, but has had no income while in the hospital. His wife. Amy Spencer. has not been able to work at her part-time job since the accident, Leyda said.
“There are just a lot of things for this family to face,” Leyda said. “They are so unsure of the costs medically. Everything is 100 percent different for them right now.”
“Any support would be so appreciated,” she said.
Local News
A painful recovery
Some burn victims return home, but 3-year-old must wait
- Local News
-
-
Murder suspect kills self at mother’s grave
Madison Township police officers found the body of a murder suspect in the Alexander Harper Cemetery on Thursday afternoon, ending a day-long, multi-county manhunt.
-
Presses stopped
It was June 23, 1969.
-
Airport takes off with a new name
A new name for the Ashtabula County Airport is winding its way through the regulatory channels.
-
Property owners must pay for meth labs in Jefferson
An ordinance requiring landowners to pay for the clean-up costs of clandestine drug labs was unanimously adopted by Village Council.
-
Elections board gets help with time-consuming tasks
A Xenia company specializing in election services will take on some time-consuming tasks that should help contain the Ashtabula County Board of Elections’ labor costs, members said.
-
Commissioners pay to get the business
Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $15,000 contract with Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County to provide business service representation on behalf of the county’s One-Stop job training center.
-
Grand Valley sixth grader wins Ashtabula County Spelling Bee
James Elliott, a sixth grader at Grand Valley Middle School, clinched his win of the 29th annual Ashtabula County Area V Spelling Bee by successfully spelling the words “physique” and “daffodil.”
-
Sports, academics to come together
SPIRE Institute will expand its educational base and accept international students into its sports performance programs through a partnership with the Andrews Osborne Academy, Ted Meekma, SPIRE management team member, announced Wednesday.
-
Conneaut Chamber lauds top citizen, ‘Champions’
Nicholas Iarocci, Conneaut’s 2011 Citizen of the Year, needed plenty of gulps of water to complete his acceptance speech Tuesday night.
-
Felony charge filed in robbery
An Ashtabula woman who police said grabbed a woman’s purse inside a Conneaut supermarket late Monday afternoon faces a felony charge in Conneaut Municipal Court, according to reports.
- More Local News Headlines
-
