Fire victim recovers

After three months of being in a Lubbock hospital and rehabbing, the 8-year-old girl that was injured in an apartment fire is back at school and out of her wheelchair.

Dawn Redmon, mother of Nicole Redmon, said her daughter returned to her third-grade class at Barbara Jordan Elementary on March 10, but she came back from spring break without her wheelchair.

"She's using a walker now," Redmon said. "She was back at school for a while but she got out of the wheelchair during spring break. She was very excited about going back to school without her chair."

Nicole, along with her 11-year-old brother Rowdy, were both injured in a New Year's Day apartment fire at the Sunset Apartment complex. Rowdy was released on Jan. 10 while Nicole spent a total of 34 days in Lubbock at the University Medical Center burn unit in Lubbock.

Nicole suffered third-degree burns on her right leg, left and right arm and her abdomen. The 8-year-old also suffered a second-degree burn on her left leg.

While Dawn Redmon said it'll take time for her daughter to recover but believes she'll be all right.

"It's still going to be a long haul," she said. "The doctors told us it'll be a year before we find out if the scars will heal or not but she'll be OK. We went from her not making it through at all to her walking."