What was supposed to be an exciting weekend getaway to visit family turned tragic for one 5-year-old boy this past Easter.

Dallas Ridings was enjoying a fish fry with his parents, siblings and cousins at his grandparent’s Morganton home April 7 when a bumblebee started buzzing nearby.

Afraid of the bee, Ridings leapt off the porch, but suddenly fell into a large vat of frying oil, causing second and third degree burns on 40 percent of his small body.

His grandfather, Bob Gurley, scooped him up and ran cold water over his burned skin while they waited for an ambulance.

Now, six months and six surgeries later, Ridings is in the midst of a long recovery.

While he is showing daily improvement and remarkable determination, Gurley said he is scheduled for steroid injections to relieve the ...