15-Year-Old Michael Brewer Survives Being Burned by Other Students
A victim of bulling, 15-year-old Michael Brewer survived being set on fire by his classmates.
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April 21, 2010
Michael Brewer of Deerfield, Florida, survived severe burns over 60 percent of his body when classmates doused him with alcohol and set him on fire over a video game last October. The resilient young man recently appeared on the Today Show to discuss the incident and his injuries with Meredith Vieira.
Doctors were unsure if Michael would be able to recover from the attack. He has since endured four skin grafts and intensive physical therapy. Luckily, Michael's face and hands were not scarred in the incident.
Michael's mother attributes his recovery to his strength and desire to survive. He had "a lot of courage, a lot of determination and an incredible will to live," she told Viera.
In recent weeks, the nation has begun to focus attention on teen bullying. It seems as if there has been an epidemic of violent and hateful behavior among school-aged children that has resulted in a series of dramatic incidents.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that over 35 percent of high school-aged youth have been in a physical fight at some point over the last year, and young men seem to be more prone to violent behavior than young women.
Parents who identify violent tendencies could turn to their child's physician, school psychiatrists or the CDC's The Preventing Youth Violence: Program Activities Guide for information, advice and guidance.
