A heroic Flower Mound teen has been cleared to go back to school after he suffered severe injuries from an explosion during a family hunting trip in early April.
Andrew Walling, 15, was back at Parkland Hospital Monday for a follow-up visit, and the teen received great news. Walling can head back to school next week after he was out for a month, and he is healing very well.
“They told me everything is going to heal up nice, and I am not going to have any scaring,” said Walling.
The good news may have seemed impossible to believe a month ago, when he was burned on 30 percent of his body.
Walling was on a turkey hunting trip in Coleman with his grandmother and two of her friends. They went to a mobile home on the property to make dinner. When one of the people went to light the stove, the place went up in flames, because of a gas leak that nobody knew about.
But Walling had the quick sense to open the door, and everyone got out. The teen suffered burns to his face, arms and legs.
“There is nothing scarier then getting a call at 11:30 with someone telling you your child is being care flighted to a hospital. When we look back at it three four weeks later we have a kid who is in great health overall,” said mother Kelly Walling.
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Right now, the burns are healing and Walling said he keeps them covered.
Walling saidit has been frustrating at times, and he is sleeping a lot. But he is simply grateful to be with his family, and to be alive.
"Life is precious, and you try and grasp every moment you can, knowing it can all slip away at any moment,” Walling said.
