Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412300137
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Burn victim Cristina Pruitt can't speak, and she hasn't been told that her mother, two sisters and a brother were killed in the fire that swept through their Franklin County home on Dec. 21.
But there is one thing the 16-year-old Patrick Henry High School student knows for certain:
She is well-loved.
As investigators searched for the cause of the fire, family and friends kept a constant vigil by Pruitt's hospital bed. Pruitt, who jumped from the second story of the house to escape the flames, was severely burned and is being treated at the University of Virginia Burn Center in Charlottesville.
"She has one heck of a support system," Cristina's uncle, Nathan Pruitt, said Wednesday. "She has hundreds of friends and family members who are taking care of her."
Cristina's physical healing process, which included skin graft surgery Tuesday, will be long and arduous, and the emotional healing has barely begun. But her family members are keeping the faith.
"It's a slow battle, but I know she'll eventually win it," said Cristina's grandfather, Edward Pruitt.
Cristina is unable to speak because she has a tube down her throat to help her breathe, but her father, Bill Pruitt, said she is improving.
"It's really looking better now," he said. "The swelling has gone down and her spirits have been up a bit."
Cristina's father; her brother Andrew Pruitt, who was not living at the Franklin County home when the fire hit; and other relatives have visited constantly.
"I've been there every day," Bill Pruitt said, "and most nights I stay with her in case she needs me. That sofa gets a little rough after a while."
Christmas Day wasn't merry for the Pruitt family, but they spent it together - in Cristina's hospital room.
"My whole family made the trip up there," Bill Pruitt said. "Cristina realized it was Christmas. We had a little Christmas tree set up, and of course, everyone is sending her gifts. Balloons and stuff fill the room."
Cristina's family is monitoring the information she receives about the fire and the deaths of her mother and siblings until she can communicate better, Nathan Pruitt said.
"We are trying to shield her," he said. "She's trying to spell words out in the air with her hands but it exhausts her. Until she can talk and express things fully, her father is afraid hearing the news will wear her down."
Bill Pruitt said doctors originally told him Cristina would remain hospitalized for at least six weeks, but they have delayed removing her breathing tube three times, so it will probably be longer.
"Mostly it's just a matter of time," Bill Pruitt said. "It takes a while for burns to heal."
by CNB