Spokane Woman Leaves Hospital Months After Burns Couple Was On Vacation In Nashville When Downtown Transformer Exploded

Randy Wilson’s 41st birthday present is something he never thought he’d have to wish for - his mom.

Irma Wilson said Friday it “feels good” to be leaving Vanderbilt Medical Center three months after an explosion on a downtown Nashville, Tenn., street severely burned her and her husband, Don.

The Spokane residents, both 64, will return home late Monday. Randy Wilson celebrates his birthday on Wednesday.

“We’re just really thankful,” Randy Wilson said about his parents’ homecoming. “It’s an absolute miracle they’re coming home at all.”

Irma Wilson quietly left the medical center’s Stallworth Rehabilitation Center in Nashville on Friday, where she spent the past month after transferring from the hospital’s burn unit. The explosion burned more than 60 percent of her body.

Don Wilson, burned over 30 percent of his body, was released from the hospital Nov. 21. He remained in Nashville to care for his wife.

On Friday, their son Carl Wilson helped Irma Wilson from a wheelchair into a van for a final visit with a doctor. She soon will begin rehabilitation in Spokane and is expected to return to Vanderbilt University in September for more treatment. “She’s still got a long way to go,” Randy Wilson said.

The family planned to spend the weekend in Tennessee, throw a party for Nashville-area well-wishers on Sunday and head home.

The Wilsons were walking in downtown Nashville Oct. 10 while vacationing when water in an underground transformer switch caused an explosion that burned them both and killed a painter working on the building.

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The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Robin Rivers Staff writer The Associated Press contributed to this report.