A Calgary teen is recovering at the Alberta Children’s Hospital after suffering third-degree burns in a cooking incident on Saturday.
Emergency crews rushed to a home in Beddington on Saturday afternoon after receiving reports of a child being burned.
According to family members, 15-year-old Riley Smith and his mother Marie Smith were cooking french fries and forgot about the oil.
“When they remembered, they moved it off the stove, and it blew up,” said Samantha Smith, Riley’s cousin, on Sunday. “Then Marie started to scream for help, and that’s when she tried throwing salt on it and towels to smother it. Riley came running while Marie went for the fire extinguisher.”
Samantha said Marie couldn’t get the fire extinguisher unlocked, and when she turned around, Riley was grabbing the pot of oil to take it outside to try to protect his mom and the house.
“It spilled on him, it blew up again, he dropped it on the stairs and it rolled down the stairs,” Samantha said. “It looked like a bomb blew up, and a flame shot over Riley.”
She said Riley was trying to take the pot outside when Marie called 911.
“The fire blew back like a backdraft, with all the grease going down the stairs. Marie pulled him outside,” Samantha said, adding that Marie was on the phone with a 911 operator describing how her son had been burned.
“He was in shock saying he was OK. He had skin falling off of his hands,” Samantha said.
Riley’s father Clayton Duplessie said that he arrived at the Beddington home Saturday afternoon to find his son sitting on the curb.
“The paramedics were cutting off his clothes,” he said. “It was pretty traumatic.”
A police escort was arranged, and officers co-ordinated with EMS to clear the roads and shut down intersections as Riley was rushed to the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
Duplessie said his son had another surgery Sunday afternoon.
“He has huge blisters on the side of his face,” he said, adding that Riley had injuries to his arms, chest and legs.
Through Samantha, Marie said she’d like to thank first responders for helping her son. Marie added that Riley has third-degree burns to 30 per cent of his body, including his hands, feet and face. He will be in the hospital for at least a month with a minimum of two surgeries, she said.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help the family with any food, hospital parking and items that were burned or lost, such as shoes and coats.