97.5 WABB's "Kountry with a K" burned

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - One of the voices you may remember from 97.5 WABB, is in the ICU at USA Medical Center in Mobile, after he was severely burned over the weekend.

Saturday night, "Kountry with a K", or Gabriel Stevens as he is known to his family and friends, was building a bonfire with his friends, when it blew up, and set him on fire.

"They were trying to encourage it to burn a little better with some fuel they thought to be kerosene, and unfortunately it turned out to be something a little more potent, more explosive than kerosene. And after they had applied it to the fire, they stirred it a little bit and he was actually kneeling down over the fire, and with them stirring the fire it exploded on him and the bulk of the flash landed in his face," said his father, Kenny Stevens.

Gabriel was rushed to the hospital. Doctors told his family that most of his burns are severe. But the burns on Gabe's face and chest weren't what they were worried about the most.

"The flames made it a little further into his airways, they've had to put him on ventilators to make sure his throat didn't completely swell shut so he'd be able to breathe," said Stevens.

Monday morning, Gabriel started responding.

"Thank God, he started waking up and Kountry gave me a thumbs up this morning. He partially opened his eyes the one time we were able to see him this morning. One of the guys from the Shed he works with brought us some food this morning and I told him, 'Bo's here to see you,' and although he didn't open his eyes or raise his head, he threw his hand up and tried to wave," he said.

The night Gabe was burned, he was wearing his lucky hat. His father believes the hat saved him from burns that could have been much more severe.

"This is what Kountry's known by, this old Alabama hat with his fishhook on it. It probably saved him more problems than he has, because the hat took the bulk of the explosion and it kept it from really burning his head. If this was his lucky hat it paid for itself, it's job is done, we're not going to ask anything else of it. So I now take this hat from him and it becomes my trophy," said his father.

To Gabe and his family, it will forever be a reminder of a life that could have been taken away.

Doctors have told Gabriel's family he will most likely be transferred to the burn unit before the weekend.