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Apr 10, 2008 11:14 pm US/Central
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Teen Recovering After Being Burned At Bonfire
SAUK RAPIDS, Minn. (WCCO) ―
A Minnesota teenager could spend the next year in the hospital after getting burned at a bonfire.
Thirteen-year-old Taylor Strand and a friend built the fire last weekend at the friend's house in Rice, Minn.
"It's a mistake that I hope no other child makes whatsoever because the results are horrific," said Taylor's uncle Barry Cedergren.
The campfire the girls were building got going a bit, but it then went out. So Taylor grabbed a gas can and poured gas onto the bonfire pit causing the fire and gas can to explode.
"The fire wouldn't go out. It just got worse. She ran in the house and it was 10 fold from where it started," said Cedergren.
Her friend's dad woke up from the screaming downstairs, and he found Taylor's entire body engulfed in flames. The flames were three feet above her head.
"He was the one that threw water on her, tried that. Ripped the burning clothes off her with his own hands," said Cedergren. "It still wouldn't go out, so they rolled her on the floor in the standing water in the kitchen, and finally got it to go out."
Her uncle knows how much she was looking forward to getting outside this spring and summer but the accident changed everything.
Taylor's now in the Burn Unit at Hennepin County Medical Center in downtown Minneapolis and will spend the next year in recovery. Doctors have performed one surgery so far, with many more to come.
She's responding to friends and family by nodding her head, though she's still heavily sedated. Her lower legs, feet and part of her back were not burned.
Her friend's father also had to go to the hospital with burns on his hands and legs.
"Very tough. Tough for the whole family," said Taylor's uncle.
He's glad his niece is still alive. Even with burns on 80 percent of her body, he's trying to stay optimistic, that the life she loves, especially outside, is something she will enjoy again.
People in Sauk Rapids are reaching out to Taylor. A fundraiser at J-P's Bar and Grill raised just over $3,700 for Taylor's family. And the bar's owner kicked in another thousand dollars.
One man even auctioned his ponytail -- which wound up going for $806.
Taylor's family set up a fund for her medical expenses and also set up a
CaringBridge Web site. Donations can be sent to the address below:
U.S. Bank
c/o Taylor Strand
307 Pine Street
Monticello, Minnesota 55362
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)