Some 162 days after a nonprofit organization’s Farmington building was razed in a gas explosion, the building’s maintenance supervisor who was severely injured, Larry Lord, has left Massachusetts General Hospital and has been transferred to a Boston rehabilitation facility.Lord is credited with saving lives when he alerted people to the smell of gas at the building that housed LEAP Inc. and helped evacuate them before the explosion.
His move to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown on Tuesday is an indication of his improved condition after five months at Mass General.
He was listed in critical condition for close to a month after he was admitted into the Boston hospital. His condition was upgraded from serious to fair in November 2019 before worsening to serious in late December. As of Tuesday, Lord’s condition was fair, according to Michael Morrison, director of media relations for Mass General.
“He’s stable and beginning the next step in his recovery,” said Tim Sullivan, director of communications at Spaulding.
Lord’s family was at the rehab hospital with him on Tuesday. In an update to the GoFundMe page the family set up after the explosion, they shared the news about him moving to the rehab facility.
“With the help of an amazing care team at MGH and many prayers and miracles, Larry was transferred to Spaulding Rehab in Charlestown, MA,” the family wrote. “The journey is far from over, but great progress is being made.”
The Sept. 16 explosion that leveled the two-story building that housed the central offices for LEAP Inc., which serves adults with developmental disabilities, killed Farmington fire Capt. Michael Bell, 68, a 30-year veteran of the department and brother of the department’s chief. Six other firefighters were injured in the blast, including Fire Chief Terry Bell; Deputy Fire Chief Clyde Ross; Capt. Timothy Hardy; Capt. Scott Baxter; his father, Theodore Baxter; and Joseph Hastings.
Lord suffered severe burns on over half his body, multiple traumas, broken bones and critical injuries in the blast. He was the only LEAP employee injured in the blast.
The firefighters had been called to LEAP’s offices for a propane leak.
Maine fire investigators in January concluded that a post installed by a Manchester company six days before the blast severed a gas line and caused the leak.
This story appears through a media sharing agreement with Bangor Daily News.