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Fundraiser planned for Bazetta boy badly burned at Halloween party
By Ed Runyan
BAZETTA
A fundraiser is planned Saturday for Jesse Coombs, 6, of Bazetta Township, who suffered first-degree and third-degree burns over 24 percent of his body in a pre-Halloween accident near his home.
The boy and his family were at a house on Sterling Drive on Oct. 29, where adults were having a neighborhood Halloween party and preparing to take the children on a haunted hayride.
Jesse, a first-grader at Lakeview Elementary School, was riding a bicycle near someone mixing powder that was supposed to create green flames, said Julie Coffey, Jesse’s mom.
Julie was only a short distance away when Jesse rode the bicycle over the chemical, which ignited it, she said.
“I heard people scream, and I saw him screaming,” Coffey said of Jesse. “They patted him down and poured a bucket of ice on him,” she said.
He was taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and then transferred to Akron Children’s Hospital, where he continues to be treated.
His worst burns are on his legs, but he also has some higher on his body and face.
He’s had two skin grafts so far and is expected to return home in about a week, Coffey said. But he will need to return to Akron to receive outpatient treatment.
“He’s young. He’s healthy. He’s active. The prognosis is pretty good, but it’s going to be a long process,” Julie said, adding that she doesn’t know how long it will be before Jesse can return to school.
The burns are causing a lot of pain and itching. When the pain medication wears off, he becomes irritable, Julie said.
Julie, who also has another son, Freddie, in the third grade, is off work on family leave while attending to Jesse. Fundraising money will help with the family’s travel, medical and other expenses. Jesse is the son of the late Fred Coombs.
The fundraiser is a spaghetti dinner from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 19 at Cortland Christian Church, 153 Grove St., Cortland.
Cost is $7 for adults, $3 for children age 3 to 10. Takeout is available.
Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at Ron’s Barber Shop, 146 W. Main St., Cortland; Imagery Salon, 4953 Mahoning Ave. NW in Champion; Platt Insurance Group, 130 Windsor Drive in Cortland; and Cortland Lanes, 3684 Warren-Meadville Road in Cortland.
A GoFundMe page on the internet also has been established. For more information, call Amy Popichak at 330-718-4645.