Published: August 27, 2009 08:01 pm      

Mother says son recovering

Man listed in critical condition in Indianapolis hospital

The mother of the man severely injured in an explosion at Ivy Tech’s new Logansport campus says physicians are optimistic about his recovery.

Mary Lee of Francesville said Thursday that her son, 41-year-old Daniel Lee, was in the burn unit at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, not at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne as had previously been reported.

A hospital spokesman said Thursday that Lee was listed in critical but stable condition.

His mother said in a telephone interview Thursday that Lee remained in a drug-induced coma as doctors graft skin onto the third degree burns that cover nearly half of his body.

“He was burnt very badly,” she said.

Lee, originally from the Francesville-Winamac area, was in the facilities storage room where the natural gas explosion occurred. The blast threw him through a garage door and onto the ground outside the building, according to a report from the Logansport Fire Department.

Lee’s mother said she had been told nothing about what triggered the explosion. Ivy Tech officials have promised that they will release a statement regarding the cause, but they have yet to do so.

Lee’s mother is taking care of his two cats until he is released from the hospital. She said she did not know how long that might be.

“I’m a nervous wreck,” she said.

Lee, who recently bought a home in Logansport, has developed an infection and subsequent fever. His mother said that despite those complications physicians had told her the prognosis is good. Recovery, though, will take time, she said.

• Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com