4 people, including 2 children, remain hospitalized weeks after Memorial Day boat explosion in Fort Lauderdale, doctors say
Four people, including two young boys, remained hospitalized, officials said, more than two weeks after a boat exploded near a popular Fort Lauderdale sandbar on Memorial Day.
Cassandra Rivera, the two boys' mother, alongside a team of doctors with the Miami Burn Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, spoke publicly for the first time on Wednesday to provide updates on the four burn victims, consisting of two adults and Rivera's sons, 7-year-old Anthony and 5-year-old Kash.
"I was giving my little one, Kash, water and he looked at me and said, 'Mommy, I think something bad is going to happen,'" Rivera said.
Rivera said she was out on a friend's boat on Memorial Day with her husband, two kids—7-year-old Anthony and 5-year-old Kash—their four-month-old puppy and some friends of the boat captain they met that day.
She says the left motor went out, and they went to get gas and went to the sandbar near 9th Street in Fort Lauderdale to figure out what was wrong when the explosion happened.
"My husband was screaming, 'I smell fuel, I smell fuel, please stop, stop, stop,' and all of a sudden you just see this fuel explosion," Rivera said.
She said she jumped in the water, scrambling for her boys, now thankful they're all alive.
Anthony is still intubated in serious condition with 80 percent of his body burned. She said Kash is doing well now, recovering from 20 percent burns. She also suffered from 20 percent burns all along her arms and legs but remains at the hospital caring for her sons as she
"I had to realize I didn't fail as a mom. I'm still here for my boys. I'm still alive. My boys are still alive. We're still here and I can comfort them in any way I can," Rivera said.
Rivera's surgeon, Dr. Carl Schulman, said there aren't many hospitals that can handle that amount of burn patients at once.
"The hospital has an in-house trauma mass casualty protocol. We brought nurses and staff down from other parts of the hospital," Schulman said.
As of Wednesday morning, one of the adults remains in critical condition and the other is stable, doctors said.
One killed, nearly a dozen sent to hospital
Loved ones said the explosion was the result of a fluke accident.
Around 5:45 p.m. on Memorial Day, a 39-foot-long Sea Ray boat exploded near 9th Street in Fort Lauderdale, where a sandbar draws boaters and beachgoers on holiday weekends. According to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, the boat was anchored during the explosion.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed that 15 people were on board at the time of the incident. A video of the explosion shows the moment the fire ignited, followed by people jumping into the water moments later. Ten people, including the two children, were taken to JMH's burn unit for treatment.
One of the victims, 28-year-old Joshua Fifi, died after spending four days in the hospital while being treated for third-degree burns over 70% of his body.
Authorities said the explosion likely stemmed from a gas leak or vapors that ignited during refueling, but the cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
