Plane crash victim Nielson staying with parents

With the sounds of family in the background, Mary Nielson was upbeat talking about her son, Christian Nielson.

"He came home Saturday," Mary Nielson said. "His children came to visit the same day. That was pretty exciting."

For the first time since August, Christian Nielson got to play with his three oldest children, Oliver, 3, Jane, 5, and Claire, 7. For the first time since an August plane crash seriously injured Christian and his wife, Stephanie, part of the Mesa family of six was together outside a hospital room.

"He's very, very happy to be with them again and be reunited. They were delighted to see him," Mary Nielson said. "They've been accepting him the way he is."

Christian Nielson, 29, and his wife, Stephanie, 27, were injured when a private plane crashed in August in St. Johns. Both suffered severe burns over their bodies. A third person on the plane, flight instructor Doug Kinneard, died the following day from his injuries.

Stephanie and Christian are parents to four young children, ages 2 to 7. Shortly after the accident, the children went to live with two of Stephanie's sisters in Utah.

Stephanie had a small following because of a blog she started, The NieNieDialogues, to express her thoughts on motherhood, family life and her creative activities. When news of the crash was posted on her site, letters and e-mails began pouring in from all over the world.

Stephanie remains at the Arizona Burn Center of Maricopa Medical Center and has undergone numerous skin graft surgeries over much of her body.

Christian left the burn center a few weeks ago for a rehabilitation center, and on Saturday he left there to stay with his parents in Mesa. Christian must wear a back brace and still has dressings and compression bandages on his arms and legs.

The children and Christian took up one room of Mary and Russell Nielson's house while the kids visited.

"There's always one in bed with him," Mary Nielson said.

More good news came to the Nielsons this week, said friend Reachel Bagley: Doctors are slowly moving Stephanie out of her sedated state.

"Yesterday they moved her to another room. She's in less critical condition," Bagley said on Tuesday. "She can open her eyes. If she's having a good day, she'll nod her head. She's more animated with Christian than anything. There's still a long path ahead with recovery, but we're hopeful."

One of Stephanie's sisters, Utah resident Courtney Kendrick, has kept the thousands of well-wishers informed of Stephanie and Christian's recovery on her Web site, blog.cjanerun.com. One Tuesday, she wrote that Stephanie's doctor told the family that Stephanie is "out of the woods."

While Stephanie remains under the watchful eyes of doctors at the Arizona Burn Center, Christian's routine the next few months will include therapy at home and outpatient therapy at the hospital, his mother said.

"He's pretty mobile, but he needs to get his range of motion back and strength and weight," Mary Nielson said. "He has a lot to gain there, but he's doing well."

Because he's doing better, Christian can visit Stephanie about three times a week, Mary Nielson said.

Supporters who know Stephanie Nielson through her online blog continue fundraising. Upcoming events include holiday bazaars and online auctions, races in Nevada and Arizona, yoga classes and this weekend's Dance for Nie at the Red Mountain Multigenerational Center. Bagley said in the last 2 1/2 months, about $250,000 has been raised.

The Arizona Health Foundation recently set up a Trauma and Burn Fund to address patient care issues, said Warren Whitney, vice president of Maricopa Integrated Health System and an ex-officio member of the foundation's board. Donors online can designate that funds go to Stephanie and Christian Nielson.

"Their medical expenses to date are multimillions of dollars already, and there's no end in sight," Whitney said.

The foundation was created seven or eight years ago to address patient care needs, Whitney said. The Nielsons are prime candidates for such abenefit.

"This is an extraordinary situation," Whitney said. "It's very rare you have a husband and wife come in with the severe injuries they've got that are life-altering. On top of that, you have parents of four kids."

For information or to make a donation to help the Nielsons

Tax-deductible donations can be directed to the Maricopa Health Foundation at www.mihs.org

Upcoming fundraisers can be found at www.nierecovery.com