Lye ****** victim clings to life, while a community roots for her
By JOHN CURRAN
Associated Press Writer
THETFORD, Vt. (AP) -- Two months after she was maimed in a lye ******, Carmen Tarleton continues her fight for life.
****** members and friends, meanwhile, pray for her recovery from what one doctor called "the most horrific injury a human being could suffer."
Burned over 80 percent of her body when her estranged husband allegedly doused her with the chemical, she has undergone more than 16 skin graft operations and has more to come.
Now blind, with one ear burned off and another damaged, the 39-year-old nurse and ****** of two remains in the intensive care unit of the burn center at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, heavily ******* and unable to speak.
Hospital officials won't release her condition, but ****** members say it is critical, although her vital signs are stable. Doctors are optimistic about Tarleton's chances for an eventual cornea transplant that could restore her sight, but that's months away.
"It's pretty gruesome," said her ******, Joe Blandin, 64, of Fairlee. "The best case scenario is Carmen's never going to be the same again. But we're hoping that there'll be enough quality of life."
