Joe Yates
Warning: This article contains graphic discussion of child loss which some readers may find distressing.
A five-year-old boy was tragically killed in a horrific manor after a hyperbaric chamber caught fire and burned him alive.
Thomas Cooper was receiving oxygen therapy at The Oxford Center in Troy, Michigan, when the facility exploded with the boy inside, shortly before 8am on January 31.
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In a desperate bid to save her young child, Annie Cooper, of Royal Oak - a city in the inner-ring suburb of Detroit and just 15-minutes south of Troy - attempted to rescue him from the flames but was unable to.
Now, the family's lawyer, James Harrington, of Feiger Law, spoke of the battles and injuries Thomas' mom sustained from desperately trying to free him.
Speaking to NBC News, he said: "She has significant burns on her arm, and that was done during a rescue attempt to try to get her child out of the burning flames. She was trying and trying to get him out and was unsuccessful.
"She does have visible burns. But the real problem for her is going to be the emotional trauma."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the family with costs associated with Thomas' death, however his mom, who appears to have set it up, has already suspended it.
The description heartbreakingly spoke about all the things little Thomas loved to do, including singing 'I love mama, I love mama, I love mama so very much', and saying 'my momma is the best in the whole world'.
"He was the smartest and cutest kid that liked to zoom, zoom, zoom. He asked to see pictures of germs, liked to know how things worked, he liked to make field journals and he had finally started adding facial features to his people drawings," it read.
It continued: "His favorite thing to do is 'super sonic mode.' Run as fast as humanly possibly. He had nature school last year and ran, jumped and rolled down hills. He loved mud. Loved to stomp on ice. Loved his mama and daddy so much.
"Minecraft was his life. He loved all the characters and the YouTube channel with mikey and JJ. He loved Mario. He loved to dress as Mario and his brother dressed as Luigi. They were the best of friends."
The Oxford Center, which describes in part what it does as offering 'a comprehensive approach to wellness' throught 'combining hyperbaric oxygen therapy with a range of traditional therapies like speech-language pathology', has been temporarily closed.
On the day of the incident (January 31), it released the following statement: "This is an exceptionally difficult day for all of us.
"As law enforcement officials have shared, at our location in Troy, Michigan this morning, a fire started inside of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The child being treated in that chamber did not survive and the child’s mother was injured.
"The safety and wellbeing of the children we serve is our highest priority. Nothing like this has happened in our more than 15 years of providing this type of therapy."
Adding: "We do not know why or how this happened and will participate in all of the investigations that now need to take place."
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email [email protected].