Severely Burned Boy On Remarkable Road To Recovery

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – After a rough couple of weeks, a severely burned boy is on the road to recovery.

Three-year-old Giovanni Mapstone of Connellsville got a big surprise Tuesday night.

Giovanni got to tour the New Haven Hose Fire Department not far from his home to get a personal tour from Connellsville Firefighter Bob Topper.

Mapstone told his mother after he was burned in a kitchen fire a couple of weeks ago that he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up.

The child's mother, Holly Nicholson, told KDKA TV's Ralph Iannotti "Giovanni was coming around a corner in the kitchen, and fell into the stove, and a can of Pam cooking spray fell and it exploded, and caught the kitchen on fire."

Nicholson said she dumped some water on her son, put him on the porch, then ran back in the house, and doused the flames in the kitchen, then drove the boy to a local hospital.

The child was later transferred to the special burn unit at West Penn Hospital's special burn unit in Pittsburgh.

He's at two skin grafts and will likely have more, but, so far, his family says he is making a remarkable recovery.

His grandmother, Donna Nicholson, said "it's truly God's touch, Giovanni has been blessed by the Lord."

When asked about her reaction, when she first saw her grandson after the fire, she said "I didn't think he was going to make it, he was still smoldering in the hospital."

Giovanni has come down with a case of Scarlet Fever, but, he's been given antibiotics and he seems much better, his mother says.

The boy will be back at West Penn Hospital later this week for a checkup.

The small "wannabe" firefighter suffered burns to his face, head, hands, fingers, arms, and leg.

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