Teen in Sheffield suffers horrific burns and left unable to walk after chip pan blaze
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A teenage boy has has been left unable to walk after suffering horrific burns in a chip pan fire in Sheffield.
Michael Steyert, aged 15, suffered first, second and third degree burns after oil from a burning chip pan landed on the back of his bare legs.
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Hide AdHe was rushed to hospital after the incident and was later placed in intensive care, which meant mum Kim, 35, feared her son 'wasn't going to make it.'
The burns were so severe that Michael had no skin tissue left and he was forced to have surgery to attach artificial tissue to his legs so he could have skin grafts.
Kim, who only found out about the horrific incident over FaceTime, said: "I can't even begin to describe the millions of thoughts going through my head as the call ended.
"My daughter and I were at home when it happened.
"We found out via video call from my sister, who was absolutely crying her eyes out and not making much sense.
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Hide Ad"I spoke to Michael briefly while the paramedics were with him.
"He was laughing and joking and trying to make sure everyone else was okay.
"But he was white as a sheet and shaking uncontrollably from the shock."
Michael was staying with family in Sheffield when the chip pan suddenly caught fire.
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Hide AdThe teenager ran out of the property just before someone brought the 'flaming pan of oil' outside, but it splashed directly over the back of his legs.
Kim said: "When the pan caught fire, one of the adults present shouted everyone to get out of the house and tried to extinguish it with a wet towel multiple times.
"After that didn't work, he picked up the chip pan with his bare hands and ran through to the back door to throw it into the garden.
"When the adult had started shouting everyone to get out, Michael was in the dining room where the back door was, so he went that way.
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Hide Ad"The adult ran to the door and threw the flaming pan of oil.
"It bounced off one of the wheelie bins in the garden and splashed directly over the back of Michael's bare legs from mid thigh to foot."
When Michael was in hospital, he was having his damaged tissue cleaned when his skin suddenly started coming off in huge strips.
This lead him going into shock and have to stay on the intensive care unit, which left Kim thinking her son 'wasn't going to make it.'
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Hide AdKim said: "He went into shock multiple times and was found to have two infections.
"We spent the next three days in the ICU, those days were hell.
"Watching my child deteriorate and the nurses trying desperately to stabilise him, only to repeat the whole process again and again, was a nightmare.
"There was a time I wasn't sure he would make it.
"Every time he started to improve, he would just have another set back, and get even worse."
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Hide AdMichael has now been discharged from hospital and has been able to go back to his home in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire.
But Kim says although he's 'a lot happier', he's still unable to stand for a more than a few seconds and won't be able to go back to school for the next couple of months.
The mum-of-three said: "Although he's a lot happier since we've been home, it's obviously still getting him down that he can't go anywhere or really do anything.
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Hide Ad"He is now able to walk for very short distances, but not properly as his joints have recently been grafted on and it's really painful for him.
"He can't stand still for more than a few seconds as the pain becomes unbearable, so he has to shift constantly from one foot to the other when he stands.
"He still struggles to walk to the kitchen and bathroom, and he then has to sit on chairs while he does everything, and he is very wobbly when he walks.
"It's going to be months before he will be able to return to school."
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Hide AdKim says she had to spend around a month living with family in Sheffield which had a huge financial impact on her.
She's now set up a Go Fund Me page to support her and her family, as she's also having to spend around £30 a day to buy high calorie food to help Michael's recovery.
Visit Go Fund Me to support the family.
Kim said: "As far as the financial impact, obviously this was completely unexpected.
"I had to buy Mike lots of protein rich and high calorie foods to help him recover, and lots of drinks as he was constantly losing fluids.
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Hide Ad"It was costing around £30 a day to just cover Michael's meals, drinks and snacks as it was all pre-prepared chicken things and lots of it.
"He's a big lad so it takes a lot of food to try to bulk him up.
"I had to borrow money from all of my relatives to provide what he needed throughout his stay, as well as using bill money.
"But his stay just kept getting longer so I had to keep finding more money, and its all piled up and getting late payment charges etc."
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