BOSTON (AP) - The last hospitalized survivor of The Station nightclub
fire in Warwick, which left 100 people dead and nearly 200 hospitalized
last February, has returned home to continue his recovery.
Joe Kinan, 34, was discharged on Tuesday from Boston's Spaulding
Rehabilitation Hospital after 320 days of treatment there and at
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Kinan was burned over his arms
and much of the upper half of his body, losing his fingers and portions
of his nose and ears.
"He continues to fight to make a very heroic recovery that is certainly
going to involve future surgeries and struggles," said Patrick Jones,
Kinan's attorney.
Kinan, who will turn 35 on Jan. 25 and lived in Canton before the fire,
has declined to talk about his ordeal publicly. He will be living in the
Boston area, Jones told The Boston Globe, although his family declined
to be specific about the location.
Dr. Joel Stein, chief medical officer of Spaulding and who presided over
Kinan's care, said the patient requested that details of his case not be
made public. His complex injuries required operations to remove dead
skin, transplant healthy skin and keep vital organs functioning.
Kinan had more than 30 operations at Mass General in the first five
months after the Feb. 20 blaze, and then more surgeries at Spaulding
after he was transferred there July 23.
He was hospitalized for more than two months before he was well enough
to speak. He and Pamela Gruttadauria were two of the most seriously
injured survivors treated at Mass General; Gruttadauria died May 4.
"In terms of the amount of rehabilitation needed, I don't think you'll
find anybody who needs more than burn patients," Stein said. "A severely
burned person, in terms of rehabilitation resources, can consume more
than stroke patients, more than someone with a spinal cord injury."
Kinan's sister, Pam Kinan, said her brother had no health insurance
through his job at a tuxedo shop, but that she had secured him coverage
after the fire from the state's insurance plan, MassHealth. She was
uncertain how large his hospital bills would be, and how much would be
covered by insurance.
Last Monday, Rhode Island General Treasurer Paul Tavares said survivors
of the fire and families of the victims can apply for up to $25,000 from
a state fund that helps pay expenses of crime victims not covered by
insurance, such as medical bills.
Kinan's discharge from Spaulding marks a milestone in the chronology of
the fire, that officials said began when a rock band's pyrotechnics
ignited the club's ceiling. Last month, involuntary manslaughter charges
were filed against club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian and the
Great White band's tour manager Dan Biechele for the 100 who died.
