Gwinnett boy home after long stay at Shriners for burns

Angela and Zach Real didn’t know when their 8-year-old son would be able to come home from the hospital.

So it was a surprise on Sept. 29 when Shriners Hospital for Children called to say that Alfred Real would be released on Monday, Angela Real told the AJC.

“It’s been a big relief,” Real said.

Alfred had been at Shriners in Cincinnati since a June 7 accident. He suffered severe burn wounds when he and a friend were playing with gasoline and a grill lighter outside his home, near Stone Mountain.

Burns cover more than 80 percent of Alfred’s body.

Alfred was able to get a skin graft treatment called “cultured skin” for his wounds.

He originally was denied the treatment, which has been used in Shriners Hospital for 20 years, through a clinical trial with the University of Cincinnati. A third-party audit indicated that the trial gave inaccurate data and questioned whether doctors were telling patients about potential dangers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July gave an OK to the procedure, in which Alfred’s skin was taken and used to cover his back and upper thighs.

Now home, Alfred wears a pressure-garment suit to cover his scars and keep the skin soft so it will stretch better, Real said. He will wear the suit and a pressure mask for a year, she said.

While in the hospital, Alfred learned how to walk and feed himself again, Real said. His cousins have visited since he’s been home, and he may go back to school next week, Real said.

Still, he must have four hours of therapy a day, his mother said.

“He’s doing pretty good. We had a hard time doing therapy because it hurts really bad, and he struggles with why this happened to him,” Real told the AJC.