He Gives Strength in Family Tragedy

Tom Sweeney

Star & Tribune

When 3-year-old Charlie Willette gazes into a mirror, he sees a clear plastic mask that hardly hides massive burns and facial scars--or the physical and emotional pain they bring. Others see something else in Charlie, who was burned along with his mother and brother in a fire in their home near Lake Park, Minn. Karen Sevigny, the occupational therapist who works with Charlie, calls him “one of the most courageous human beings to set foot in St. Luke’s Hospital in a long time.” Here, Charlie and his younger brother, Jeff, who also suffered third-degree burns, ride their tricycles outside the family’s trailer house.

Tom Sweeney, "He Gives Strength in Family Tragedy," in POYi Archive, Item #13713, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/13713 (accessed November 23, 2024).