Man Dies After Catching On Fire Inside Nashville Hospital

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When a Middle Tennessee woman took her husband to a Nashville hospital for treatment of an infection, she didn't anticipate leaving a widow. Sadly, that's exactly what happened when Kathy Stark took her husband of nearly 35 years, Bobby Ray, to a local hospital earlier this month.

Bobby Ray had been bedridden for seven years and needed treatment for bed sores and a foot infection, so he ended up at TriStar Centennial Medical Center, per WKRN. He was eventually transferred to TriStar Centennial where he coded, causing hospital staff to jump into action to revive him. However, that's when Stark said everything went wrong.

Stark said she watched as staff used paddles to revive her husband but "it just blew up," leading to flames that caught her husband on fire.

"He got burned in the throat, the face, the head, the chest and his hands," she said. "And he got burnt really bad, he was on fire, and I said he's on fire, put him out."

Bobby Ray was taken to the burn unit at TriStar Skyline but ultimately passed away on Thanksgiving. Now, Stark and Bobby Ray's daughter Joyce Feakes are looking for answers as to how something like this could happen.

"They even made the comment to her, she's repeated it to me many times, of this has never happened before," said Feakes. "They need to make sure that that doesn't happen to somebody else, so somebody else doesn't lose their husband, their best friend, their dad."

In a statement to WKRN, TriStar officials said they are investigating what happened and offered condolences to Bobby Ray's family.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to this family for the loss of their loved one," the statement reads. "While we cannot discuss specifics, we are reviewing the care provided to the patient and the functionality of equipment. The death of a loved one is always very difficult, and our hearts go out to this family."


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