“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. -Helen Keller ” 

Thomas lived the happy-go-lucky life of an
average five year old until half way through his kindergarten year.  On
Thursday, February 5, 1997 all that changed.  It began as a typical
day. No one could have guessed the turn of events.  Thomas went to
kindergarten in the morning.  After school he went with his mother and
sister to visit his friend who had chicken pox.  They took the friend
some soap to stop his itching.  While the two mothers visited upstairs
with his little sister by their side, Thomas and his friend were
downstairs playing Nintendo.  Because the electrical cords weren’t long
enough to sit on the couch the two boys sat on the table in front. 

Earlier that day, in preparation for a home appraisal, the
mother of Thomas’ friend had lit scented candles throughout the house.
Thomas and his friend did not notice that one of these was still burning
on the table where they were sitting to play Nintendo.  The flames from
the candle nipped at the back of Thomas’ shirt, catching the shirt on
fire.  Thomas’ friend said to him, “Thomas, you’re on fire!”

Thomas panicked, as any young child would. 

The screaming attracted the attention of the mothers and
Thomas’ mom met him on the landing of the stairs as he ran up to find
help. She felt guided to push him to the ground where she rolled him
side to side to put out the flames.

The next four days were a blur of grief and pain as they went
from doctor to doctor trying to find the proper treatment for Thomas’
third degree burn.  When the course of action prescribed seemed to throw
Thomas’ little body into shock at every treatment, his parents sought
further help at the University of Utah Burn Trauma Unit.  Thinking they
would be given a different type of ointment to apply, the family headed
to Salt Lake Monday morning.  Within an hour Thomas was scheduled for
surgery to graft slices of his healthy skin over major portions of his
back.

Thomas lay sedated in his hospital bed for the next eight days as the grafts took time to heal. 

Finally, Thomas was able to move.  He wanted to get up and
play.  His first attempt to stand was similar to the young Bambi trying
to find his legs.  In the twelve days since Thomas’ accident, with all
the trauma to his young body, he had lost all the strength in his
muscles.  He had to work for the next several months doing painful
physical therapy to get his strength and mobility back.

Thomas has overcome much. For the five years following his
accident, Thomas wore special Jobst undergarments every day that
protected his fragile skin from getting bumped, scraped or sunburned. 
This skin continues to be very sensitive (recently he developed sores
from simply doing sit-ups on the hardwood gym flooring) but aside from a
back full of scars, Thomas is blessed to be able to live the full and
happy life of an average sixteen year old.