Burned Girls Struggle To Recover -- Dry-Ice Skit Blamed

SILVERTON, Ore. - Four high-school girls are still struggling with physical and emotional problems more than two months after suffering serious burns in a skit that involved sitting on blocks of dry ice.

Gloria Runyon said her daughter, Megan, has fallen behind at school and has recurring nightmares after suffering second- and third-degree burns in the Nov. 4 incident.

"I didn't realize that she would go into post-traumatic stress and walk around in the fog," Runyon said.

The girls sat on blocks of dry ice about 25 minutes as part of a contest to see who could hold out the longest. The incident occurred during a school-sanctioned pep rally at Silverton Union High School.

Runyon said her daughter, a freshman, has missed a lot of school and still has open wounds that require dressing changes twice a day.

Debbie Beahm said her daughter, Tiffany, a sophomore who had been an "A" student, has missed about a month of classes and is swamped by the schoolwork she has to make up.

Senior Jolyn McAdoo, who suffered third-degree burns, has pushed herself to earn a position as a starter on the school basketball team, said her mother, Ann Cecil.

"She is playing, as long as she can withstand the pain and discomfort," Cecil said.

Holly Davis, a junior, said time away from school helped in her recovery from second-degree burns.