Children, grandmother burned with hot grease

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Tags:

orange county, local/state, alina machado

CHAPEL HILL (WTVD) -- A Charlotte grandmother along with her three grandchildren and daughter-in-law, were taken to the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center after having a pot of grease thrown at them.

The children's ages range from 22-months to 8 years old.

It happened June 17 when Macy Mclean said a neighbor threw the grease on them.

Thirty-three-year-old Regina Terry faces a slew of charges related to the incident.

Mclean said she was visiting her grandchildren when her daughter and daughter-in-law began to argue with Terry and her daughter.

When Terry walked away, Mclean said she thought the argument was over.

"Next thing I know I'm hit with a pot of oil," said Mclean. "I guess I went into shock because I'm thinking it was just water. Dana [the daughter-in-law] starts screaming and screaming her skin was burning and I told her, I said 'Don't rub it, don't rub it!' because I'm still thinking that it was water.I was going to cool her down with cool water, but my grandbabies started screaming, 'Grandma, it's burning! Grandma! Grandma! Grandma!'"

Her 22-month-old grandson suffered second and third degree burns to his face. The other children have similar burns on their bodies as do Mclean and her daughter-in-law.

"That was the worst thing," she said. "I don't care about my body; I don't care what happens to me. I just wish it hadn't happened to them."

Mclean said her first instinct was to chase after Terry and beat her with the pot, but her grandchildren's cries refocused her attention.

"There was no way I could focus any energy on her when they were over here screaming and hollering that they were burning," she said.

Mclean has already had one surgery with another one scheduled for Thursday. Her grandchildren are due for surgery on Wednesday.

"My complete right arm was completely burned down to my fingertips," she said. "I got burned from my neck down to just under my torso and just a couple of flesh burns on my left finger."

Mclean hopes her grandchildren will recover from the experience.

"They'll grow up and hopefully won't even remember any of this," she explained. "My children and my grandchildren are my life; any harm done to them is the worst offense you can do to me."

However, she said she does pray for her alleged assailant.

"I just pray for her soul and her family right now because they're going to need it."

The Mclean Relief Fund has been set up at the Wells Fargo Bank on Sardis Road North in Charlotte, since the injured grandmother does not have health insurance.