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Act of Courage: Ogden boy burned saving his little brother from boiling water
By Carlos MayorgaOGDEN -- John Robinson, a first-grader at Madison Elementary School, has second- and third-degree burns on 20 percent of his body and faces a painful healing process.
Much of his upper body is bandaged and his parents will have to clean his wounds twice a day for at least the next 45 days. The process is necessary for healing, but excruciatingly painful.
That's the price John is paying for saving his little brother from a similar fate. Still, the 6-year-old is grateful his 2-year-old brother wasn't hurt in the accident that burned him.
"I feel lucky that my little brother didn't get hurt," he said. "I'd go through it all over again to save my brother."
It happened Oct. 23, when John saw his brother open the oven door and try to climb onto the stove. John rushed across the kitchen to keep his younger brother from touching a boiling pot of water.
The stove, which was not bolted to the floor, tipped over. A five-quart pot of scalding-hot water missed John's little brother, but came down on him.
The Robinsons took John to the burn unit at University Medical Center in Salt Lake City, where he spent four days. He will soon be able to go back to school, but his doctors told the family they are still unsure how much permanent damage the burns will cause and that recovery will require weekly doctor visits once a week for at least the next few months.
To cheer him up, the Robinsons held a party for John a few days prior to Halloween and invited friends and neighbors. The party was encouragement enough for John, who, with his bandages hidden by a zombie costume, said he still wants to be a baseball player and coach when he grows up.
John's mother, Amber Robinson, said the accident could have been much worse and that she now wants to warn parents that the kitchen presents several potential hazards for young children.
On the night John was burned, Robinson said she was boiling a pot of corn-on-the-cob and turned her back for just a moment to get plates out of a cabinet. When she looked back after hearing a crashing noise, the water had burned off skin on most of John's left arm and shoulder, his chest and under his chin.
"I think I cried all night," she said. "I thought it was my fault and I could have prevented it."
Robinson said that parents can prevent such accidents and wants people to make sure appliances are bolted to the floor to keep them from falling onto children.
The family moved into the home less than a year ago and the stove that tipped over was not bolted to the floor. Since the accident, Robinson asked the landlord to secure the stove to keep it from toppling again.
Robinson said her son's care is covered by Medicaid, but she still is unsure how much the insurance program will cover. John's four-day stay at the burn unit, added to the cost of weekly doctor visits to Salt Lake City, could put a major strain on the family, she said.
The family is asking for donations to help pay for John's medical bills and has left collection containers at the 7-11 on 24th Street and Monroe Boulevard and the One-Stop Smoke Shop on 21st Street and Harrison Boulevard.
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John Robinson that was a great thing to do! You are a true hero!
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