Local mom: 'He ran through the fire': Teen escapes burning home

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A local teen escaped a burning home, and doctors said it's a miracle he survived.

"He's a medical miracle. No one expected him to open his eyes," said his mother, Mary Russell.

Russell has to watch her son struggle to walk and talk two months after a fire burned their home.

"That was really difficult, especially because he wouldn't wake up for a long time, and I was really scared," she said.

Her son, Brian White, was still inside their Brunswick home sleeping when it caught fire.

Russell said her other son ran to wake him up. She said as White tried to get out of a door, it wouldn't open, and he panicked.

"He literally ran through the fire, panicking at the same time," Russell said.

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White suffered third-degree burns on his feet, arms, hands, part of his back and face.

"He's burned all the way down to his tissue. They've used the skin off of his stomach and his thighs. They took that off to graft new skin because he was burned too severely to grow new skin," she said.

For 72 days, White has been at the burn center in Gainesville where doctors have operated on him more than 12 times.

There are some good days and some bad days, including a close call just three weeks ago.

"They didn't think they were going to save him. They thought he was going to pass," said Russell.

But they did, and White continues to fight. It's hard for him to talk, but he wanted everyone to know how thankful he is for their support.

Russell said it could be several more months before White can come home.

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Cox Media Group