ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - A family in North County is facing an unthinkable reality: a home gone and a life forever impacted.

Eighteen-year-old Dontea Hardy’s life was changed in a matter of seconds when an explosion ripped through his family’s home on Aug. 25.

His loved ones say they’re doing everything they can to keep Dontea going forward.

“(Dontea) said he heard something, not like a click-click or tick tick and then the explosion happened,” Terrance Hardy, Dontea’s uncle, said. “And when it happened, the roof in and it blocked the exit out from him so he literally had to go through, unfortunately, the flames to get out.”

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His family said the teen—who is now recovering in the hospital—ran through the fire, burning 85%

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