ROCHESTER, Wash. -- While trying to help his dad, a 4-year-old boy suffered burns on more than 10 percent of his body.

The incident left his parents worrying about their sons, their finances and how to feed their other children. So their friends contacted KOMO 4 News.

Cornelius Wayman, Jr. learned a painful lesson about playing with fire.

"I was cooking dinner and heard him scream," said mother Holly Wayman. "I saw him running toward the house and screaming, and flames were all over his side."

"I cut his shirt and got his stuff off and put (his) arm under the sink, running cool water on it," said father Corneilus Wayman.

Corneilus Jr. was supposed to be in his bedroom, but was in the backyard pouring gasoline on a smoldering burn pile. He says he was helping his dad clear the brush.

"He was trying to make the fire bigger and it hit me," said the burned boy, Junior.

The boy's 10-year-old sister called 911. Now the independent and adorable kid everyone simply calls "Junior" has third-degree burns all over his left arm.

"It burned here to my armpit," said Junior.

"Part of me just wants to cry but it could have been so much worse," said Holly.

The Waymans are worried about skin graft surgeries and future bills. Dad won't earn a paycheck as long as he's sitting by his son's burn center bed. Mom's new job is no hold, and there are four other children at home in Rochester.

"We try to focus on him, but (we have to also think about) how to get kids to school and be home in time to have dinner with them," Holly said.

But on Tuesday they got some help. Month of Meals donated two weeks' worth of dinners. And the Problem Solvers gave them gas cards to help cover their trips to the hospital.

"That's amazing," Holly said.

How to help:

If you'd like to send the Wayman family a gas or grocery card, mail them to:

Rochester United Methodist Church
For Wayman Family
PO Box 78
Rochester, WA 98579