By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
A Convoy, Ohio, firefighter injured April 8 while battling a house fire, is expected to return home this week following surgery on Monday.
Chaise Dawson’s surgery was done Monday in the burn unit of Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis.
His wife, Olivia McKeddie, reported that the 90-minute surgery “went very well.”
There was some skin grafting “on the deeper shoulder and upper arm burns,” she posted on Facebook. “They also used the spray synthetic skin on the rest of the burns that didn’t need grafted (the deeper burns used the grafted skin and synthetic spray and they meshed them together so they didn’t have to use more than needed).”
McKeddie, an EMT with the Convoy fire department and EMS, said it was likely that the injured firefighter would go home Wednesday or Thursday.
Dawson suffered third-degree burns on his right arm and shoulder, back, neck and ear while inside a burning home as fire flashed behind him.
Another Convoy firefighter, Jake Hicks, was also caught in the flash fire. He was treated at the scene and taken to a hospital. No update on his condition has been available.
The house fire occurred in the 4500 block of Lare Road, Tully Township, in Van Wert County, Ohio. Mutual aid was provided by Monroeville, Wren, Payne and Van Wert departments.
Numerous fundraisers to benefit the Dawsons are being held and planned throughout the area.
