Teen hurt when wood-burner explodes

The 15-year-old boy is recovering after a freak explosion.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Michael Deutschlander Jr. and his dad thought it would be cool to ride in a helicopter.
As they were driving past Salem Hospital last Saturday morning, they watched a medical helicopter land there. They were heading to their Herbert Road home from Michael Sr.'s workplace in Salem and making small talk: Yeah, it would be fun -- but of course, not under circumstances people find themselves in when they're in need of an airlift to a hospital.
Before the day was over, 15-year-old Michael would get a helicopter ride. Unfortunately, it would be because he was airlifted to a hospital.
And his parents would be afraid for their son -- for his eyesight, a gash almost to the bone on his leg, and burns to his hands and face -- but thankful he was alive.
They'd be extremely puzzled, too, about the freak accident he was lucky to survive. And they aren't the only ones.
No one seems to be able to explain why a cast-iron, wood-burning stove would explode "like a bomb," sending chunks of iron barreling through a pole building on the family's property where he and his son were working, Michael Sr. said.
What happened
The two were in the pole barn about 7:30 p.m. Michael Sr. said he was standing about 10 feet away from the stove when it happened, and he escaped the initial effects of the blast. Michael Jr., who said he heard a hiss and went over toward the stove to investigate, was about four feet away.
They had been working on wiring in the building, Michael Jr. said, and he was at a workbench.
"I was pretty into this light switch, when I heard hissing. I went over," the teenager said. "There was a big, white flash. I got blown back about 10 or 15 feet. Dad asked, could I see? I said, 'I can't.' I said, 'I can't feel my leg. I think it's broken."
His mother, Doreen, was in the house at the time. She said that after she heard the explosion, she ran outside to the sight of her husband dragging her son away from the pole building.
Their first concern, she said, was for their son's eye.
But his sight came back pretty quickly, Michael Jr. said, and he believes it was the flash from the explosion that temporarily blinded him.
The family called 911, and it was decided he should be airlifted to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown.
He's going to make a good recovery, his mother said.
On Sunday, he had surgery to remove shrapnel from his right eye. He's been to a plastic surgeon, Doreen added. That doctor said his burns should heal. The gash on his leg is keeping him down, she said, and so the Canfield sophomore won't be back to school for at least another week.
The surgery and all the doctor visits have been hard on their son, Doreen said, but in spite of the accident, she and her husband feel blessed. Their son is alive.
"Tell the fire department and police and everybody who helped me: Thanks," Michael Jr. said.
starmack@vindy.com