A US father risked his life to save his four children from a burning bus. The vehicle, which was converted into a mobile home, served the family as a means of living and transport.
A medical report on Wednesday (13) reported that the couple’s eldest daughter, aged 11, who had burned 80% of her body, was still undergoing further surgeries three months after the incident.
Kyle and Whitney Copeland and their four children were traveling through the town of Veyo, Utah late last year when a power outage caused a fire on the family’s bus.
The vehicle was converted into a real house on wheels, and at the time of the incident, children were playing on the bus while their parents were outside.
2 of 3 bus wrecked after fire in USA — Photo: Reproduction / GoFundMe
Bus wrecked after fire in USA Photo: Reproduction / GoFundMe
According to reports from friends of the Copeland family, father Kyle was seriously injured while removing his children. He, an Army veteran, was hospitalized with his daughter Pepper, 11, and Krew, 3.
The three were admitted in serious condition. The mother Whitney and children Kade, 10, and Emree, 6, only had minor injuries and were treated by area doctors.
After undergoing surgery and treatment at a burns hospital in neighboring Nevada, Kyle and Krew have been released and the family now awaits their eldest daughter’s recovery.
3 of 3 Pepper, 11, had burned 80% of her body after a family bus fire Photo: Playback/GoFund/Me
Pepper, 11, had burned 80% of her body after a family bus fire Photo: Playback/GoFund/Me
“We’re doing our best to keep them excited and moving,” the Copeland family wrote in a statement.
Family friends have launched an online campaign to help the Copelands get back on their feet and pay for medical expenses.
Since the beginning of the “vaquinha” more than 3,000 donations have been made and more than 200,000 US dollars (approx. 940,000 R$) have already been collected.