BURLEY, Idaho (AP) – Family members say a 2-year-old boy is back home and recovering after he was badly burned in an accident involving a pressure cooker.
The Times-News reports Chayse Bodily of Burley received second-degree burns over 14 percent of his body when an escaping bubble from a hot pressure cooker splattered him with boiling food on Sept. 9.
The Bodily family had spent that afternoon installing French doors in their home, and Chayse’s mom, Angela Bodily, put a roast in the pressure cooker for dinner.
When the meat was done, she released the steam and removed the lid, preparing to add potatoes to the still-boiling cooker. She was getting something out of the cupboard, her son clinging to her leg, when a bubble exploded underneath the pot roast.
“It just shot up like a geyser,” Angela Bodily said. “I was in shock and I saw the baby slipping in it.”
Her husband, Travis Bodily, saw the explosion and quickly scooped up Chayse and rushed him to a bathroom where he took off the boy’s clothing, still covered in the boiling food.
The boy’s father poured cool water over his son before dashing him to the hospital. Chayse’s mother, covered in the hot meal, quickly changed and followed.
Angela Bodily’s adult skin didn’t burn as easily and she escaped with a few blisters. Chayse had to be flown to the Utah burn center for care.
When they arrived, the medical team scrubbed him down to determine how severe his burns were. They shaved much of his hair and his eyes were swollen.
“It was just heartbreaking to see him like that,” Chayse’s father said.
The couple noticed other patients at the burn center and became aware of how fortunate they were that their son’s injuries were not any worse.
“You sit and listen to people’s stories because sometimes they just need someone to listen,” Angela Bodily said.
Chayse spent 12 days at the burn center before he was released. Doctors still don’t know whether Chayse will need skin grafts or how much scarring there will be, and medical bills continue to mount.
Angela took a leave of absence from her job as a deli clerk to care for Chayse, and Travis switched to night and weekend shifts to help.
The Bodilys must provide physical therapy to keep Chayse’s scar tissue from tightening so he doesn’t lose mobility, and they must change the dressings on his wounds, which causes him extreme pain. The toddler sometimes has nightmares, waking up screaming and crying.
Still, Travis Bodily says Chayse’s demeanor has improved and he seems happier now that he’s home.
“This is something parents should never have to go through,” his mother said. “But it’s also something that a child should never have to go through either.”
Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com
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