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A little boy in Ogden faces weeks of expensive, painful healing from serious burns, but he says he's glad he saved his little brother from getting burned.
A big pot of boiling water fell onto 6-year-old John Robinson. It burned him instead of his 2-year-old brother.
The 6-year-old doesn't really think of himself as a hero, but if he had to choose who to be compared to, he says he'd want to be Spider Man.
Two weeks ago, John rushed to save his little 2-year-old brother Jacob, who was climbing on the stove. John said, "[I] saved my brother from hot, boiling water."
John and Jacob's mother, Amber Robinson, said, "I heard a loud crash. The entire stove was tipped over. The baby was over in the corner, and John was drenched."
She says she'd just turned her back for a minute to get some plates out of the cupboard when the accident happened. She said, "Jacob opened this, climbed up on it, John got him off. Now, look, just a little bit of pressure tips it right over."
John has second- and third-degree burns on his chest, shoulder and left arm.
After spending four days in the hospital, John is pretty much back to normal. He'll have some scarring, but he says it shows he's tough. He says, "It doesn't even hurt now." He hopes to play baseball when he grows up.
Amber says John missed his first-grade class more than anything while he healed. "He really wants to go back to school. He loves school," she said.
Amber says she's talked to her landlord about bolting the stove to the wall, and she's urging other parents to do the same.
She says her family is going to be more careful. For now, they're thankful it wasn't worse, and they're especially thankful for their new hero, John.
John's medical care is covered mostly by Medicaid, but the family is unsure how much of his recovery will be covered.
The family has set up an account at Wells Fargo in John Robinson's name to accept donations.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
