Rash family learns lessons from son's accidental injury By ROBBY LUCKE Staff A Cherry Lane family has seen blessings come out of near-tragedy. Ten-year-old Ethan Rash was severely burned in a terrifying accident three months ago. Since then, he has made remarkable progress on the path to recovery. The Rash family is grateful to God and to friends, neighbors and health-care workers for their help during the ordeal. They also hope news of their experience helps prevent other such accidents. "We found out how many friends we had, and we had more than we ever, ever imagined," said Lisa Rash, Ethan's mother. "A lot of prayers were said, and a whole lot were answered."

The Rash family pauses for a photo at their home in the Cherry Lane area. Pictured are (front, from left) Ethan, Jeremy, (back, from left) Brian, Lisa and Daniel.

On April 7 Ethan and his brothers, Daniel, 13, and Jeremy, 11, were cleaning out the yard. Lisa — who was inside by then — had started a fire in a barrel near the house, and the boys were throwing trash, such as paper and branches, into it.

The brothers stuffed the barrel full of debris and thought the fire was going out. So they decided to apply some kerosene from a nearby can.

"They thought it was kerosene, but it was old gas," said Brian Rash, their father. "It exploded in Ethan's face."

From inside the home, Brian heard a sound like a shotgun blast. That was from the fire reacting inside the can, which ended up 30 or 40 feet down the hill.

Lisa saw a flash through the window and initially thought the boys had thrown a hair spray can into the barrel. "I heard Jeremy screaming," she said, and when she and Brian got outside,

"Ethan was on fire. He had already stopped, dropped and rolled." She pushed him down as well, but his shirt, which was polyester, was still burning, so they had to pull it off. Both parents could smell the gasoline.
 
 

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