“We can’t change what happened to him,” said Ashley Papageorge, a Greenfield mom whose son, Jax McCracken, suffered serious burns as a child. “The only thing that we can do is raise awareness and share his story in hopes that even just one family thinks ‘Oh gosh, I should start cooking more on my back burner’ or ‘I should make sure that my handles are turned in.’”

Nine-year-old Jax McCracken was only 18 months old when a split second changed his life forever. Jax was spending time with his grandmother who was boiling water to make him some macaroni and cheese.

“He ran into the kitchen with his blanket that he carried around at the time, and when he ran in he wanted her to pick him up,” said Papageorge. “He lifted his arms like this and the blanket caught onto the pot and it fell on her, her leg, her arm, and this whole side of him.”

Boiling hot water came crashing down on Jax – seriously burning 18-20% of his body’s total surface area.

“The first 24 hours the swelling was so bad,” said Papageorge. “He was unrecognizable to the point where we brought pictures of him in – blown up pictures – and hung them up because we wanted the doctors and nurses to see what he looked like.”

Papageorge said her family was thankful, at the time, that Jax did not lose his vision. For months following the incident, she said Jax underwent several laser surgeries and skin grafts to help restore the damaged skin.

“There’s weird lines in it that I don’t really understand,” said Jax looking down on his scarred arm. “I kinda like it. I mean it’s cool – looks cool. Makes me feel stronger and braver.”

Jax said he does not remember much from that incident, nor from his time in the hospital, but nonetheless he said his scar is a reminder to be extra careful in the kitchen.

Papageorge said Jax now has a two-year-old little brother who he watches carefully when she is cooking.

“It’s a big deal in our house. He’s really good at making sure he’s not in the kitchen when mom’s cooking,” said Papageorge.

“If we’re cooking ramen or something I try to keep him away and like watch TV or something,” said Jax describing how he protects his youngest sibling.

At Riley Hospital for Children, doctors working the burn unit said, on average, they see roughly 200 inpatients and 3,000 outpatient visits every year.

“About 70% of those burns that we see happen in the house,” said Dr. Brett Hartman, medical director of Riley Children’s Hospital Burn Unit. “So a lot of those can be prevented if we just follow some simple rules of safety around the house.”

Dr. Hartman and Papageorge recommended the following tips to avoid burn injuries:

• Cook on back burners rather than front burners
• Turn handles of pots and pans inward
• Keep small children out of the kitchen while actively cooking

“If we can prevent even one of those injuries this week – that’s a win in my mind,” said Dr. Hartman.

“This could happen when you least expect it,” said Papageorge. “I mean my mom was just trying to make her grandson mac ‘n cheese.”