A friend of mine had the same sort of thing happen to him, but it was with magnesium powder in a giant fire pit. Nobody thought he would live. He had sepsis, he had burned his lungs, had a staph infection and pneumonia, and we reeally thought he was going to die. He was in ICU for 6 weeks under sedation. Then one day, he just got better . They let him be fully conscious and he was out of the hospital 10 days later. It was truly amazing-I thought i would never see him again. It was a true miracle. He still has to have some hand surgeries to remove more scarring, but the amazing thing is that his face which was totally burned, simply peeled and now the jerk looks 10 years younger than the rest of us! I seriously thought that even if he did live, he would probably kill himself because of the disfiguration i thought he woul have, but I was sooo wrong. There are amazing things that can happen to people. Keep your faith, keep positive, and be supportive. Also, make sure YOU have support too. Best of luck to your friend.

Thanks so much for your reply...it's wonderful to hear of something like that happening. My one friend told me that the hospital that he's at is supposed to be one of the best burn centers, but I'm beginning to have a few doubts. After a week or so, they still didn't have the MSDS (the official data sheet) on the chemical that he was burned with.....
If I may ask, what hospital was your friend at?
Thanks....have a good evening!
Jennifer

It was a hospital in Greeley, Colorado. Although it's only about an hour from major medical complexes in Denver, they did a great job with him, and I was actually pleasantly surprised at how confidnet i was in the staff.

My friend died last night...10 weeks after the accident..he had gone thru two more surgeries since my last post. Some of the grafts had actually started to "take", but a week ago he developed an allegeric reaction to an antibiotic that he was taking and went into "v-tac" and was done for 14 minutes before they were able to resucsitate him. After that, they took him off the ativan to judge brain activity and did another surgery. He started having platelet replacement (he was bleeding into his lungs) and then his kidneys started shutting down again..in addition to sepsis..
I was wondering if you could recommend an on-line grief support group...his fiance is just devastated...she went into shock and was unconscious for 3 hours in the emergency room after he died.
I've helped her through her child's death, a nasty divorce, and now this. She's not a religious person...
If you could give me a few links or suggestions, I'd appreciate it.
Thank you.
Jennifer

I dont know of any grief support groups, but if i see any ill let you know. I was just so saddend by this i thought i would comment and tell you how sorry i am, an that i wish there was more that i could do to help out. *hugs* i know that probably doesnt help to much, but i bet you need all the hugs you can get.