Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Ed Yeates reporting A 6-year-old Utah boy who fell into boiling geyser water at Yellowstone National Park, is recovering this afternoon at his home in South Jordan.
Richard Robinson was treated and released from the University of Utah burn center this morning. The boys' arms and legs were burned in the fall.
Trace and Amy Robinson take their kids to Yellowstone all of the time. They are always careful, but what happened to their son, 6-year-old Richard, shows just how fast things can change.
The Robinson's say the boardwalks in the geyser basin, made from a plastic material, were slick from a recent rain.
Trace Robinson, Father: "Rich was just sitting there along side of us watching, sweeping water off the benches. He slipped and tripped, and went right into the stream coming out of West Triple Geyser.
Amy Robinson, Mother: "I am not sure how (Trace) got there so fast, but he was right there, and pulled Rich out of the water. I think Rich didn't even have a chance to realize he was falling. He just fell in."
Richard was treated immediately on the scene, and then flown to the University of Utah Burn Center. He suffered second degree burns on his arms and legs, but should recover fully.
The boy is home now, for what could be a long recovery. Fortunately, he doesn't remember the incident, but he does recall his flight on two planes.
Amy and Trace have advice for families headed towards Yellowstone: Never underestimate how fast something can happen.
Amy Robinson, Mother: "It can happen really fast. We are very careful there, but you forget how hot that water is. Even though it had shot up out of the geyser and was rolling away, they estimated that the water was 160, 170 degrees."
The Robinson's will find out this Thursday if Richard needs some minor skin grafts. Other than that, the skin should heal normally.
