Youth Dies of Burns After Two-Week Ordeal

Michael Halsell, the Newbury Park teenager who was critically burned over 85% of his body while climbing a 175-foot electrical tower, died Monday after what doctors are calling a valiant struggle to stay alive.

Michael was pronounced dead at 8:55 a.m. at the Sherman Oaks Hospital’s Grossman Burn Center as his parents, Hal and Bonnie, and his brothers, John and Chris, sat beside him. The 17-year-old Newbury Park High School senior had been floating in and out of consciousness and speaking to relatives only the night before.

“Before he left, he said that he knew we were there for him, and he loves all of us,” said 18-year-old Chris Johnson, a longtime friend who spoke with Michael’s mother on Monday and had visited him every day since the March 11 accident. “We’re taking it real hard.”

Sepsis, a toxic blood condition caused by bacteria from decaying flesh, gradually overcame Michael’s system. His principal organs finally failed under the stress, said Dr. A. Richard Grossman, the center’s medical director. Grossman, who warned all along that Michael’s chances of survival were slim, said he was moved by how strongly the teenager had clung to life.

“You’ve got a 17-year-old boy that has his whole life ahead of him,” Grossman said Monday. “When you get to the point where things are going downhill, and there’s no going back, it hurts a lot.”

Michael’s parents “had explained to me what kind of boy he was, and they were right,” he added. “He was one strong kid.”

Michael and two young friends had been practicing rock-climbing techniques on a high-voltage tower near the Ventura Freeway in Thousand Oaks. A blast of electricity--as much as 220,000 volts--ran through Michael’s body when he apparently touched or came too close to a coil. Doctors believe that the current entered at his right hand and exited through his lower back, where his climbing harness was fastened.

The youth caught fire and tried to climb down, using a ladder that ended 75 feet from the ground. His friends coaxed him back up to a metal beam, where he was rescued about two hours later by Ventura County firefighters, who had to wait for Southern California Edison to ground the power lines.

In the following two weeks, doctors at the Grossman Burn Center performed three surgeries to remove dead skin, muscle and blood vessels from Michael’s arms, legs, face and torso. They grafted cadaver skin in its place and reconstructed his face with laboratory-grown tissue.

After doctors removed the breathing tube from Michael’s throat, he was able to speak to his parents, letting them know that “he wanted to go home,” Grossman said.

But Michael’s condition began to worsen as bacteria from his rapidly decaying tissues spread through his bloodstream. Doctors announced on Friday that the teenager was losing his battle.

Michael’s relatives declined Monday to comment on his death, choosing to grieve in private as they have throughout the ordeal. Grossman said psychologists helped comfort Michael’s brothers during the final days, and the family had accepted his passing.

“They knew he was slowly slipping and they had made peace with this,” Grossman said. “As he had gotten more and more weak, they decided it was probably for the best.

“His mother, she was waiting for a miracle to happen,” he added. “And it got more obvious as this went along that a miracle wasn’t going to happen. She came to terms with it.”

At Newbury Park High on Monday morning, administrators went from classroom to classroom, informing students that Michael had died peacefully. His classmates, many of whom attended fund-raisers and a blood drive on his behalf, shared their grief with school counselors. Many went home early.

“I saw people crying, and I just thought, ‘Oh, God, don’t let it be Mike,’ ” said Robynn Tholander, a 16-year-old junior.

Many students had grown optimistic, believing that because Michael had survived two weeks after the accident, he would eventually recover.

“People were really hopeful,” said Maria Bessell, 17. “It kind of makes it worse, though, getting your hopes up.”

A close friend since elementary school, Chris Johnson said Michael had hoped to enroll in Moorpark College this fall and eventually transfer to UCLA. He would remember his friend as a good guy with a sense of humor whom he enjoyed being around, recalling in particular their jaunts to Pismo Beach.

Johnson last talked with Michael on Saturday. His friend told him “that he loved me, that he cared about me a lot, and he was glad I was able to be there with him,” Johnson said.

David Pumphrey, the firefighter who carried Michael’s burned body down from the electrical tower, heard from another firefighter at about 9 a.m. that Michael had passed away.

Pumphrey said he has lost rescue victims before, but none has affected him as much as Michael.

“I’ve never felt the connection to someone that I’ve had with Mike,” he said.

Pumphrey stayed in touch with Michael’s family after the rescue, and he attended last week’s blood drive at Newbury Park High.

“Obviously, the injuries were more than anyone could endure,” Pumphrey said. “I just felt for the family.”

In years past, someone with burns as severe as Michael’s would have stood a much slimmer chance of survival. But with new technology--particularly the drug cyclosporin, which prevents the immune system from rejecting cadaver skin--burn victims now have a much better chance to heal, Grossman said.

Doctors were impressed by Michael’s courage and resilience. However, even the burn center’s technology could not save him from the bacteria in his blood.

“He survived a shock that no one should have survived,” said hospital spokesman Larry Weinberg. “His heart should have stopped with all that electricity surging through him, but it didn’t.

“He had an enormously strong will to live.”

Information about funeral arrangements was not available Monday evening.

Those interested in helping the Halsell family pay Michael’s medical bills may contribute to the Michael Halsell Trust Fund at Los Robles Bank. For information, call 373-7133.

Bustillo is a Times staff writer and Baker is a correspondent. Staff writers Jocelyn Stewart and Jack Cheevers contributed to this story.