Health Team

Florida teen burned in 2017 bonfire accident dies

A 16-year-old Florida girl who was badly burned in a 2017 New Year's Eve bonfire accident has died, according to her mother.

Posted Updated

By
Ralph Ellis
, CNN
CNN — A 16-year-old Florida girl who was badly burned in a 2017 New Year's Eve bonfire accident has died, according to her mother.

Layne Chesney was 14 years old and a star softball player when the accident happened in Fort Pierce.

Layne's mother, Leigh Ann Wirz Chesney, told CNN that Layne died Friday morning.

A few days after the accident, Layne's mother told CNN affiliate WFOR, that her daughter and friends were roasting marshmallows that night at a friend's backyard.

"When the flames went out, one of the children or her -- I'm not sure of the story -- accidentally or purposefully put more gas onto the fire to make it higher," Leigh Chesney said. "An explosion occurred. She was engulfed in flames."

People tried to put out the fire. Despite their efforts, Layne had third-degree burns over 95% of her body, her mother said. She said only the soles of Layne's feet were not burned.

"She fought a hard battle right until the end -- never wanting to quit -- because quitting was not in her nature ... " a Facebook page for her supporters reported Friday.

"We are heart broken, but remain always grateful that she was a part of our lives and world- we just wish it had been for a lot longer with us here on Earth." the Facebook page said.

Copyright 2024 by Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.