Niagara Falls boy remains in coma after explosion, family clings to ‘miracles’
For Skylar Burbidge and her family, it’s now a game of beating the odds.
Her eight-year-old brother Ryker has defied the odds simply being alive after being engulfed in flames from a backyard explosion last month. Now, facing more grim odds, she’s hoping he can breathe on his own again.
To start healing. To wake up from his coma.
And at some point, to walk out of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.
The doctors have been blunt: Children that come to the hospital with burns covering 40 to 60 per cent of their body rarely survive.
Ryker’s burns cover 80 per cent of his body.
“But they’re witnessing miracles every single day,” said Skylar. “They’re beside themselves on how he’s even still alive.
“There’s a hundred people on his team fighting for him.”
On April 6, Ryker was helping his family with yard work outside his home on the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Cherrywood Road in Niagara Falls. At some point he had placed a gas can next to a backyard fire. It exploded and he was covered in flames.
His mother Heather desperately tried putting the flames out by covering his body with her own, resulting in thirddegree burns on her arms and legs. She was sent to an ICU burn unit in Hamilton as Ryker was flown by helicopter to SickKids Hospital.
Several surgeries followed, said Skylar. He is on dialysis for kidney failure and his lungs have suffered massive damage.
In the meantime, the family started a GoFundMe page to allow Heather – the only family member allowed to visit him – to stay in temporary accommodations near the hospital. With a $25,000 goal, the page has raised more than $34,000.
“She’s staying at an airbnb right now, about a three-minute drive from SickKids Hospital,” said Skylar. “She said that if she gets a call from one of the doctors saying she has to get there right now, she wants to be able to see SickKids Hospital from where she’s at. If she had to run there, she could be there in three minutes.”
Ryker remains in a coma and is entering a crucial crossroads, said Skylar. Doctors have been decreasing his sedation in the hopes he will start coughing soon to clear his lungs of fluid.
“If they can’t get that fluid out, he’s not going to survive. He’s been in over 15 surgeries since this happened and they can’t get his lungs to let go of that fluid.”
Desperate for any good news, the family finally received some last week: After an initial skin sample sent for testing proved infected, another one has shown growth.
“In June, they should have enough skin grown to cover his back, which is amazing news,” said Skylar.
But she also realizes, even the best case scenario could mean years of recovery for Ryker.
“Not any time soon.”
In the meantime, Skylar and sister Laken are trying to comfort their mother while processing what has happened. Among other things, COVID-19 precautions have prevented them from even seeing Ryker in hospital.
“It’s really tough, but at the same time I don’t know if I want to see him the way he is. I want to remember him as the eight-year-old boy that I know.
“He’s wrapped up like a mummy. The only parts on his body that my mom can see is his eyes, the tip of his nose, his lips and his feet. That’s it.”