Red Deer teen suffers severe burns after seizure in shower

Nov 13, 2023

"This was very out of the blue. They can't do any testing yet because his head is so burnt, so once that heals they’ll hopefully be able to tell what caused it," says Cornell.

"Thank God the bathroom door was unlocked. I found him seizing over the tub, his whole hand was in very bad condition, as were his back and ears. It was horrific."

Once he stopped seizing, Cornell says Dre, who played this past season for the U15 City League AES Industrial team, went into shock from the pain.

Dreyden was then taken by ground ambulance to Red Deer Regional Hospital, and within one hour was flown by STARS Air Ambulance to the Stollery.

"He had four EMS working on him. They and Red Deer Regional really did a great job. I have a whole new respect for them," she adds.

Dreyden is a massive hockey fan, with a fervent fandom for the Edmonton Oilers, whose game two playoff matchup against LA he was able to watch with his parents in the hospital room on Wednesday.

But it's likely a long road for him, physically and emotionally, with skin grafts or other operations probable, and a lengthy wait to get back on the ice.

"One of his first questions was, can I still play hockey and when? Anyone that knows him knows how much he loves hockey," says Cornell.

"He breathes and sleeps hockey. He knows more about hockey than any man I know. When he was out of it, they showed him some older signed hats they have here at the Stollery, and he knew every autograph."

As much as the Oilers can bring Dre some joy during this hard, time, Cornell admits he is depressed and not speaking much, also disappointed in losing his hair.

Cornell says that through a family connection, the Oilers organization is aware of Dre's situation, but because it's playoffs time, they’re certainly not expecting anything.

"We’re honestly living our worst nightmare right now," says Cornell. "Getting out kind of depends on the percentage of burns on your body. They’re saying 15 days minimum, but today he's getting scans done. It just depends how they heal, so we really don't know if it’ll be weeks or months. We’re staying in the room though; neither of us are leaving his side."

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with various expenses. It has raised just over $4,000 as of mid-Thursday.

In hopes of spreading some education about the incident, and helping other families avoid some aspects of what occurred with Dre, rdnewsNOW and the family have agreed to share the following advice from Alberta Health Services (AHS), recognizing that no one in the family is at fault as it relates to this story.

According to AHS, households can install scald-resistant faucets in sinks, showers and bathtubs. This advice is typically geared towards homes with young children, but is applicable here for extenuating reasons.

The fixtures AHS refers to have built-in thermostats which control the maximum temperature of the water. If you install one of the devices AHS speaks about, or additionally, if you have a hot water tank with adjustable settings, they should be set so that the water won't exceed 49° Celsius, AHS says.