Parents, doctors optimistic about injured firefighter’s recovery

Daniel Lyon, a firefighter injured in the Okanogan wildfires two weeks ago, has been upgraded to serious condition and his doctors and family couldn’t be more thrilled.

“He has been able to come off the breathing machine, which is a big step for all of us,” said Tam Pham, a physician at the UW Medicine Regional Burn Center at Harborview, working closely with Lyon and his parents. “We’re very grateful for that.”

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More than 60 percent of Lyon’s body was burned when his vehicle crashed and was overtaken by the flames. Three firefighters died and three others were injured.

Pham said the goal is removing damaged tissue and getting the wounds prepared for skin grafting. While Lyon has made great strides, Pham warns he’s still in a vulnerable state and that there is much work to do even before rehabilitation can begin.

For now, it’s the little things that keep Lyon’s parents going. He recently got to eat a few ice chips.

“‘This is the absolute best ice cube I’ve ever had in my life,'” Lyon told his father, Daniel, who is sitting bedside. “And that was impressive.”

“He wanted the recipe for it,” his mother, Barbara Lyon, chimed in.

Barbara’s heart breaks with every moment of pain her son feels.

“When he has his good days, I have my good days,” she said. “When he’s not feeling good, it’s hard.”

Barbara said she spends the difficult nights at her son’s bedside.

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And Daniel Lyon knows that his son appreciates the outpouring of love from his parents and those in the community encouraging a full and speedy recovery.

“I think the biggest thing that we’ve go to do is just that he responds and knows that we love him and that we’re in the room,” he said. “I think that comforts him. It seems like he wants to pray a little more often that he used to. That gives us comfort and hopefully him. ”