A 6-year-old boy in Bridgeport, Connecticut is recovering from third-degree burns to his face and much of his body after an 8-year-old neighbor allegedly lured him into a shed and lit him on fire.
Dominick Krankall (pictured, above) is in the hospital this week after allegedly being attacked by the boy, who family members term as being a persistent bully of the younger child. Dominick was horrifically burned in the attack, and now his outraged family is seeking help.
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According to NBC New York, Dominick was playing in the backyard of his family’s home in the city of Bridgeport on Sunday when the 8-year-old boy reportedly got into a shed on the property. Once inside, the boy was able to reach a canister of gasoline and some lighters. He lured Dominick over to the shed, the outlet claims, before lighting a tennis ball on fire and tossing it at the younger boy.
Dominick’s older sister Kayla Deegan told the outlet what allegedly occurred at that point:
“What he did was pour gasoline on a tennis ball, took a lighter, lit it up and just chucked it right at my brother’s face — and then ran away from him and watched him burn.”
Deegan added more details about the nearly-fatal attack on her little brother as part of a fundraiser page on GoFundMe.
The protective sister wrote:
“My little brother Dom has been bullied for a while by the tenants downstairs. It escalated to a deadly intent. Dominick, MY 6 YEAR OLD BROTHER could’ve died. The kid covered a ball in gasoline, lit it on fire, and threw it at him. All in the matter of SECONDS. Dom has second and third degree burns on his face and leg. He’s going to be scarred for life mentally and physically.”
Recalling the horrific ordeal, Dominick’s mother Maria Rua told ABC 7 News what happened next:
“I heard him screaming, ‘Mommy help me, they set me on fire.’”
OMG…
According to ABC 7 News, preliminary reports indicate that “up to four unattended children were seen playing with gasoline and lighting things on fire” during the day on Sunday.
The Bridgeport PD is now investigating the chain of events leading up to Dominick’s awful injuries.
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The boy’s father, Aaron Krankall, told WFSB News that the family expects Dominick to remain in the hospital for “about another week” as he recovers from the severe burns. In the meantime, Aaron was moved by his neighbors, who have stepped up to care for the family in this time of need:
“We have people bringing us dinners to my family before I get home so they have dinner. We’ve had relatives and aunts, people coming over, and cousins coming over and helping out. It’s just been amazing.”
On Wednesday, Deegan shared an optimistic update on Dominick’s situation on the family’s GoFundMe page.
In it, the aggrieved sister wrote:
“Dominick is doing a little better. Yesterday was the first time he actually was able to get a few bites of food past his extremely swollen lips and into his mouth. He could only handle a few bites, but that is some good news. He will sip soup out of a straw as well. He’s such a tough little cookie. The bravest 6 year old I’ve ever known. Being an older sister and so close to your siblings, seeing my baby brother like this is absolutely heart wrenching. No baby should have to lay in a hospital bed like this.”
Here is more on this horrific situation (below);
As of Thursday morning, nearly $400,000 had been donated to the family’s online fundraiser from people all over the world to help with medical expenses and assist the family in finding a safer place to live. That’s amazing! We are heartened by the amazing community response to this incident.
But still, what an unimaginably terrible thing for a small child to experience. Such a shocking story…
BTW, you can visit the family’s GoFundMe fundraiser page HERE.
[Image via GoFundMe]
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