“He just freaking flew,” the man’s partner recalled of the incident
Robert Thompson, a man from Idaho, is in a medically induced coma after suffering third-degree burns across his upper body
He was making s’mores with his partner and their two daughters when the incident occurred on April 1
“Robert was on the ground rolling, screaming for his life,” Kimberly Graybeal recalled while speaking to a local news outlet
An Idaho man suffered life-threatening third-degree burns across his upper body during a backyard bonfire gone wrong.
Robert Thompson of Twin Falls County was attempting to make s’mores with his partner and their two daughters on April 1, per East Idaho News.
“He went to go start the fire, and he realized he didn’t have any fire starter. So he just grabbed the gas can that we have,” Thompson’s partner, Kimberly Graybeal, recalled to the outlet.
Explaining that the gas can then exploded while Thompson, 25, was holding it, Graybeal added, “It’s not something that we expected.”
“His whole body went back, and his arms and his legs went out. He just freaking flew,” she continued.
According to Graybeal, Thompson had an intense reaction to the incident. “Robert was on the ground rolling, screaming for his life. He was just screaming, ‘Please help me! Please! I’m dying! Please help me,’ ” she told the outlet.
Graybeal added that Thompson managed to get his jacket off his body while she ran into the house to get water. A nearby neighbor, meanwhile, called 911.
However, Graybeal opted to drive Thompson to St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center instead of waiting for help to arrive.
“The hospital told me when I took him there that if I would’ve waited for an ambulance, he would’ve died,” she told East Idaho News.
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Thompson was later airlifted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, where he was placed in a medically induced coma.
East Idaho News reported that he has third-degree burns on his torso, “including his neck and face.”
Coleen Niemann, a spokesperson for Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, tells PEOPLE that Thompson is still at the hospital and his condition “remains the same.”
“I am scared for the future. I am overwhelmed,” Graybeal — who has been making the 180 mile drive between Buhl and Idaho Falls each week — told the outlet.
In a GoFundMe page, Graybeal said that Thompson is the main source of income for their family. According to East Idaho News, Thompson is a postal worker.
Graybeal said she created the fundraising page to help cover basic expenses while her partner is unable to work.
In a series of updates on the GoFundMe page, Graybeal said that Thompson is currently “stable” and has since undergone two surgeries to help remove burned skin from his body.
“It will be a long time till he comes home from the hospital,” said wrote on the page.
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