Donations surge for family whose baby fell into a fire pit. The embers were still hot

Donations poured in Friday for a North Carolina family whose baby fell into a fire pit and its hot embers.

Baby Thea is being treated for second- and third-degree burns at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem after Wednesday’s mishap, family member Charlena Lyons of Statesville posted on Go Fund Me.

Lyons, a cousin of the baby’s mother, said she organized the Go Fund Me drive on Thursday to help cover the parents’ gasoline bills, hotel stays, child-care expenses and lost work hours as the baby faces a few months of treatment.

A precise age for the baby was not given.

By 9:30 a.m. Friday, 236 people donated a total of $9,253 to the family, far surpassing Lyons’ $5,000 goal.

WCCB first reported about the mishap and the Go Fund Me drive.

Lyons couldn’t immediately be reached by The Charlotte Observer on Friday.

The family lives about an hour’s drive from the hospital, Lyons said on Go Fund Me, although she didn’t specify the town.

The baby accidentally fell out of her walker into her family’s fire pit, according to Lyons’ post. “The fire was not lit but the embers were still hot from the night before,” Lyons said on Go Fund Me.

“Mommy was at work and Daddy was home caring for all 3 of their children who are all under the age of 5,” Lyons wrote. “Dad turned around for a moment to tend to one of his toddlers when the accident occurred.”

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