Ellsworth burn victim comes home Well-wishers cheer boy’s return

ELLSWORTH – A few minutes after 2 p.m. Friday, Donald Awalt walked gingerly down a short flight of steps off a charter plane in Trenton in front of a crowd of about 60 people.

The Ellsworth High School freshman, who was seriously burned three weeks ago when his Halloween costume caught fire during a school assembly, had arrived home.

Relatives, friends, Ellsworth High School students and other well-wishers applauded as Awalt, 14, gave a quick wave before climbing into a white limousine with his family for the drive to his house.

Escorted by a Hancock County Sheriff’s Deputy cruiser, an Ellsworth Fire Department truck and a County Ambulance vehicle, the caravan drove into Ellsworth, past Awalt’s Washington Street home and through downtown Ellsworth before heading back to his house.

The crowd, some holding balloons and signs welcoming Awalt home, watched and applauded again as Awalt got out of the limousine, answered a few media questions and finally walked into his house through the kitchen door.

Awalt, described by his grandfather as a shy boy, did not have much to say about all the attention he was getting. When asked how he felt to see all the people welcome him home, his answer was short.

“Good,” he said, wearing a red cap, a winter coat and long pants as he stood in his driveway.

Awalt had spent the past three weeks in a Boston hospital recovering from serious burns to his legs and back. He received the injuries after another student allegedly set his costume on fire during an Oct. 30 costume contest that was part of the school’s annual Spook Day festivities.

The fire was put out after Donald jumped from the bleachers and rolled around on the gymnasium floor as other students beat out the flames with parts of their costumes. Donald had worked on his costume, that of a camouflaged military sniper, for six months, his family has said.

Lucas White, 15, of Otis is facing criminal felony charges of arson, elevated aggravated assault and aggravated assault for allegedly setting Awalt on fire.

When asked Friday about the plane ride from Massachusetts, Awalt was a bit more talkative.

“I’m glad to be home. It was fun,” the boy said. “I rode up front with the pilot.”

Awalt’s grandmother, Lorraine Awalt, said Donald had to recover enough to be able to walk before he could return to Ellsworth. Lorraine Awalt and her husband, Earl “Buzzy” Awalt, are the boy’s legal guardians.

“In order for him to come home, he had to be able to climb stairs,” Lorraine Awalt told reporters Friday while standing in her yard. She said Donald will live on the first floor of the house while he continues to recover from his burn injuries, but he will have to climb the stairs in the house every day as part of his physical therapy.

Donald’s mother, Sheila White, said the crowd of people gathered to welcome her son home was overwhelming.

“I’m happy there was such a turnout so he could see people care about him,” White said.

“It’s wonderful.”

While at the Boston hospital, Donald received many letters from well-wishers, several of whom Donald has never met, his mother said. One woman even wrote a prayer for Donald and included it in a card she sent, she said.

Donald’s mother and grandparents had been staying in Boston while the boy received treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Donald, who has diabetes, has received skin grafts to try and repair the scar tissue and has been undergoing physical therapy to make sure his injuries do not prevent him from being able to walk.

Donald was admitted to the hospital in critical condition after he was flown by helicopter to Boston from the high school. Over the next several days,his condition improved rapidly.

The Awalts’ flight home from Bedford, Mass., which cost $1,400, was paid for by Portland Firefighters Children’s Burn Foundation, Twin Cities Air Service of Auburn, and Portland developer Michael Liberty, according to foundation spokesman David Petruccelli. The Boston Firefighters Burn Foundation paid for the Awalts’ limousine ride in Massachusetts from the hospital to the airport, Petruccelli said.

Meanwhile, White’s defense attorney, Chris Largay of Bangor, said Friday that his client has been kicked out of Ellsworth High School. He said the Ellsworth School Committee voted Tuesday night to expel White from the school’s student body.

Largay said White’s family already had decided to withdraw him from school indefinitely before the school board made its decision. White has been in the custody of his family after having spent the weekend following the incident at a juvenile detention facility in Charleston.

“Anything is possible down the road,” the defense attorney said of the possibility of White returning to the school.

White is scheduled to have a juvenile trial Jan. 9 in Ellsworth District Court, but the proceeding might be delayed until Feb. 20, Largay said. The attorney said he has yet to receive several official reports being prepared on the incident and has personal and professional scheduling conflicts around the proposed Jan. 9 date.