MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 14-year-old girl is fighting for her life at a Miami-Dade County hospital Tuesday after she was severely burned at a bonfire on New Year's Eve.
St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office deputies said Layne Chesney was at a small get-together with friends Sunday in Fort Pierce when she went to pour gasoline on the dying fire. The gas can exploded in the high school freshman's hand, causing third-degree burns over 95 percent of her body.
"They had a small bonfire," Leigh Chesney, Layne's mother, said Tuesday. "They were making s'mores, roasting marshmallows."
Three other people -- Layne's friend, Hunter Holmes, and his parents, Robert Scott and Stephanie Holmes -- were also burned while trying put out the flames that engulfed Layne.
Deputies said Layne was alert shortly after the accident, but she has since been placed in a medically induced coma.
Layne was initially treated at Lawnwood Medical Center in Fort Pierce, but she was airlifted to Kendall Regional Medical Center in southwest Miami-Dade County because the hospital has a specialized burn unit.
Kendall's burn center is staffed by specialized doctors, nurses and technicians. Patients come from as far away as the Cayman Islands and Haiti to receive treatment.
Chesney said the only part of Layne's body that wasn't burned was the bottom of her feet.
"I'm going to fight with her no matter what it takes," Chesney said, adding that Layne underwent about seven hours of surgery Tuesday.
Chesney said her family is hoping for the best.
"If she does recover, it's going to be many, many months of setbacks and difficulties," Chesney said.