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Editor's Note: Some of the following pictures of the burns are graphic.SALT LAKE CITY — A Montana football player spent Wednesday night recovering from third-degree burns at the University Hospital after being covered with boiling oil.
Kyle Smith was a defensive tackle for the Carroll Saints, and he was looking forward to the upcoming season. However, after his accident on June 23, the Casper, Wyo., native wasn't sure he would ever be able to walk again.
Smith said he was at home with his girlfriend and their 2-year-old daughter cooking dinner, when he noticed a pot of oil had caught fire on their stove.
"We were going to make a bloomin' onion," Smith said. "The whole kitchen was filled with smoke, and it was going throughout the entire house."
Smith took the hot oil off of the stove when it began to boil over and burn his hands. He threw the pot away from his girlfriend and daughter, but he fell into the oil.
"I remember, I yelled, 'Call 911,' " Smith said. "My feet are burnt off."
Smith said that he had tried to get rid of the oil because he feared that the entire house was going to catch fire.
I remember, I yelled, 'Call 911.' My feet are burnt off.
–Kyle Smith, Carroll Saints defensive tackle
"And I looked back and everything was out like nothing was on fire anymore, but I could see my feet and I thought they were done," he said.
Smith was air lifted from Helena to the closest burn center to receive treatment for his legs. He said that even after countless football injuries, cuts and broken bones that his burns were more painful.
"I would rather break all of those (bones) again, than be burned like that again," he said.
Due to his severe burns, Smith's recovery will be a long, difficult process, but he said that emails from his coaches and support from his family have kept him going strong.
"My long term is just to be on the team again," he said. "And my short goals are one step at a time to get back."
After a long visit at University Hospital, Smith will be discharged on Friday. He received substantial medical bills, and a fund has been set up to help his family pay for the costs. The fund has been set up as the *Kyle Smith Burn Fund at the Reliant Federal Credit Union in Casper, Wyoming.
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*KSL.com
