By Patrick Wilson
The Virginian-Pilot
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Aaron Jones had a dream about his late mother while recovering from third-degree burns last fall .
The 12-year-old Portsmouth boy was being treated at Cincinnati’s Shriners Hospital for Children for the burns on his arms, face and stomach. He was sedated and would undergo four surgeries . Margaret Jenkins, who, with her husband, Carlton, has raised Aaron for two years, said he related something to her.
“Aunt Margaret, I dreamed my mom was here and she was watching over me and saying I was going to be OK,” he told her.
He didn’t know it, but Aaron had a lot of people thinking of him, including the firefighters and paramedics who first helped him. They were planning a special gift.
The accident had happened in October. Aaron, now 13, was watching his uncles Carlton and Alvin Jenkins try to prime the carburetor of a pickup. When the truck backfired, a cup of gasoline in Alvin’s hand caught fire and hit Aaron. Suddenly the boy looked like a fireball. Alvin put out the blaze with a garden hose as Aaron rolled on the ground.
Firefighters from Fire Station 10 on Victory Boulevard raced to the scene. They treated his burns and put him on a helicopter that rushed him to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. His uncles were devastated.
Aaron said he doesn’t remember a lot about the weeks after that, until the point where he was doing exercises to move his hands, walk and recover.
He was released from Shriners after about a month, and returns as an outpatient. Today, he wears a body suit and a mask as the burns heal. He takes off the mask only to eat and shower.
Aaron’s resilience stood out to the firefighters and paramedics at Station 10.
“I was just really surprised at how hard he worked to keep it together,” Capt. Sam Moore said. “He was in significant pain, obviously.”
Station 10 does something special each Christmas for a child who had a tough year. Last year, they bought a New Orleans Saints helmet for Aaron and sent it to the team with a request that it be autographed by the quarterback, Drew Brees.
Aaron loves the Saints. He has a Saints bedspread. Tough defense is why they win, he says in a soft voice.
Moore tried to get the helmet autographed in December. But the Saints weren’t signing items for fans until after the playoffs, a contact told him. Then, after their Super Bowl victory , many players left town.
Aaron, meanwhile, was back at Walters Middle School, where he’s a member of the National Junior Honor Society. He loves reading Greek mythology and the “Twilight” series, and likes baseball and computer games. This summer, he will practice karate and study algebra .
“I like playing games a lot,” Aaron said.
He is not in pain anymore , but must use ointments on his body and massage his newly grafted skin. The mask on the sides of his face and chin is to compress his face so it won’t swell.
“It’s hot,” he said, though it’s important he wear it all the time, Margaret Jenkins said.
Aaron had come to live with the Jenkins’ after his mother died of an aneurysm in 2006. His father is also dead. The Jenkinses are his cousins, but he calls them aunt and uncle. Recently, Margaret detected that Aaron was sad in the days leading up to Mother’s Day.
“You write a prayer and we’ll put it in a balloon and we’ll release the balloon,” she told him.
She didn’t ask Aaron what he wrote, but he used a magic marker to write “Happy Mother’s Day” on the helium balloon. They launched it from their yard, and Aaron watched quietly until it floated out of sight.
A little over a week ago, the Saints helmet came back to firefighters, autographed not just by Brees but a number of players, including Reggie Bush, Jeremy Shockey, Darren Sharper, Will Smith and Marques Colston.
Aaron’s grandparents and family came from out of town for a special ceremony at Station 10 on Friday morning. The helmet and a presentation case were wrapped and waiting for him to open. Aaron, now 13, showed up wearing his Saints jersey.
He opened the gift as his family and 20 or so firefighters looked on, including the chief. Then he walked to each firefighter to shake hands.
“You’re on our mind,” Lt. Gary Rawls told him. “Certain things like that stick with us.”
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