H-SC community rallies after fire

Kirk Rohle's recovery from critical burn injuries continues on its often-painful course.

And the Hampden-Sydney College community has rallied to help Rohle and the other students affected by the fire that gutted their house on the outskirts of the all-male school's pastoral campus in Prince Edward County before dawn on Jan. 25.

Rohle suffered his burns when he went back into the residence looking for Ben Rogers, a longtime friend and H-SC Tigers football teammate, before Rogers got out on his own. Rohle is undergoing a series of skin-graft operations in the burn ward of VCU Medical Center.

His father, Ken Rohle of Mechanicsville, said this was not an easy week for his son.

"Monday was such a high," said the senior Rohle. "Kirk was up and had walked 20 yards down the hallway. He really looked good."

But before the day was over, doctors told the Rohles that the skin-graft surgery was needed, calling for blood transfusions, the reinsertion of a breathing tube and the additional recovery that goes with surgery.

When the operations are done, paper-thin skin tissue from less-affected areas of his own body will cover much of his back and other areas that suffered the worst burns.

The skin grafts should guard against infections, so common for burn victims, that have caused repeated brief bouts of high fever for him.

"The doctors tell me he's really ahead of schedule," Ken Rohle said, "but they have to get the infections under control."

He doesn't know when his son's hospital stay will be over. He's hoping for early April.

The Rohles have had a steady stream of visitors. One who showed up the first day, and again last week, was Cole Sydnor, another young Hanover County man who has dealt with serious injury.

Sydnor, an Atlee High School junior, was paralyzed from the chest down last August when he dived into the James River and struck his head on a submerged rock. Sydnor's father, Clement Sydnor, was Kirk Rohle's mentor when Rohle went through the confirmation process at New Hanover Presbyterian Church.

Rohle's mother, Amy Rohle, said her son was touched to find out Cole Sydnor had been there during his first day in the hospital, and that the second visit last week on "one of Kirk's good days" was an inspiration to both.

She said her son and Sydnor visited privately. "It meant so much to Kirk."

On Sunday, Kirk Rohle, Rogers and some of their friends watched the Super Bowl in Rohle's hospital room. Rohle was hoping the New York Giants would lose.

Rogers, who was hospitalized briefly with relatively minor burns, has been at his friend's side often since the fire. His updates about Rohle's recovery have been posted on the Hampden-Sydney Gridiron Club Facebook page. He closes the updates with "Work hard, play hard, pray hard."

One posting is accompanied by a photograph of the two friends. Rogers leans close to Rohle, who sports an oxygen tube. Both Hampden-Sydney seniors are smiling. Rohle's face is nicked and looks a little scorched but otherwise all right.

"I just want to help get information to everybody who's saying prayers for Kirk," Rogers said.

He said doctors have told him that his friend's "health, strength and physical makeup have helped him a lot with his recovery."

Rogers said he and Rohle have both made the dean's list at Hampden-Sydney and that they are salvaging what they can of the semester. Rogers is keeping a partial class schedule himself. He is bringing assignments for two classes to Rohle. He said he expects they will finish their degree requirements not far behind their classmates.

Thinking back to the night of the fire, Rogers said he hardly can find words to express his feelings about his friend going back into a burning house to save him. "What Kirk did is incredible," Rogers said.

He said he is overwhelmed by the response from alumni and friends of the college. "I don't know where to begin," he said. "There are so many people I want to thank for their supportive messages."

Almost before the fire's ashes cooled, H-SC alums Deane Cheatham III, who is a partner with Rogers' father, Todd Rogers, at Hometown Realty, and Mark Stepanian, president of Loveland Distributing Co., helped establish the Tiger Support Fund at Village Bank. The fund will assist with medical expenses and personal-property losses for the nine students, all athletes, who lived in the house that burned.

Donations had pushed the fund past $11,000 this week.

The displaced students were able to take up residence in a vacant fraternity house on campus, but they all lost clothes, books, furniture and other possessions in the fire.

"When they came out of that burning house," Cheatham said, "they didn't have anything but the clothes on their backs. … Some of their expenses will be covered by insurance, but insurance doesn't cover everything."

The fund is being administered with extra care because Hampden-Sydney must comply with NCAA regulations governing any money distributed to athletes, even in extreme circumstances. Stepanian said that if money is left over, the fund will be applied to other important needs in the future.

Stepanian has an extra connection to Rogers and Rohle. Both worked as interns at Loveland, and both have an offer to come work for the company.

"All of us at Loveland were really impressed with the two of them," he said. "They are two terrific young men."