Benefit for Merle Radke Saturday, October 21

It's a chore that's been done thousands of times, and no one would think twice of danger.

But in one traumatic moment on July 26, 2023, Merle Radke's quality of life changed for the worse.

While repairing a lawnmower, the engine suddenly ignited in flames, burning Radke severely with burns on his face, chest, arms and hands.

His son, Marc, explained what happened that day.

"We were working on it, putting gas down the carburetor, and it backfired," he said. "It just happened so fast, next thing you know, everything was on fire, including him."

That accident spurred emergency measures to save his life, including ambulance transport from CHI Carrington EMS and a life-flight to Regions Hospital Burn Center in St. Paul, Minn.

For over a month and a half, Radke was hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) at the burn center, undergoing painful skin grafting surgeries in order to replace the dead and infected tissue.

Even with those surgeries, the stress and trauma to Radke's body could be impossible to truly fix.

But in some cases, you could consider him lucky it wasn't worse.

"His face is mostly healed," Marc said. "The arms are still wrapped, but the worst damage was to his hands. The doctors said it was mainly deep-second degree burns, with some third degree."

One of the factors that caused the flames to do the damage they did, as it turned out, was Merle's clothing choice that day.

"He was wearing an NDSU Bison Dri-Fit shirt, and if you look on the back of the tag, it says they're highly flammable," said Marc.

The incident has adversely affected the almost 81-year-old Radke's memory, and Marc says he tends to be "better during the daytime." Another source of frustration for him may be with his hand injuries possibly causing him to be unable to drive for the rest of his life.

Merle and his wife, Shirley, are now home. He did physical therapy exercises at Golden Acres Manor for several weeks, and Shirley has been driving him back and forth to Jamestown for appointments.

The Radkes are in need of fund-raising to cover costs of their ordeal that aren't covered by insurance.

For instance, each ambulance ride, along with family lodging costs during Merle's recovery, are out of the reach of insurance policies.

A free-will offering supper, along with a bake sale, will be held at Sykeston Legion at 38 Main Ave. N. Saturday, October 21, at 4 p.m.

All proceeds from the supper and sale will directly benefit the Radke family.

Those unable to attend, but who wish to contribute monetarily what they can, may deposit donations in a benefit fund set up at Gate City Bank in Carrington.