On Friday morning, when Paul Patterson walked into his son’s room at the Ohio State University Medical Center, he was greeted with something he calls “a gift.”

His son was able to open his eyes long enough to look at him.

Josh Patterson, a sophomore in engineering, was moved out of the medical center’s intensive care unit yesterday. He had been in the ICU since the morning of April 13, when a fire broke out at his residence on East 17th Avenue.

Paul Patterson said his family is blessed.

“We know God is here. Josh showed us what God did for us,” he said.

But the improvement in Josh Patterson’s health was marred by the tragedy of a week before. Yesterday was the first time Josh learned the fire claimed the lives of five friends.

As Paul Patterson talked about his son on Friday, people filtered into the waiting room on the 11th floor of the OSU Medical Center – almost all of them to visit Josh Patterson. Before noon, about a dozen friends and neighbors had come to wish him well. Some traveled from his hometown of West Chester, Ohio – just under two hours away.

“His friends are on his mind, and these guys come by and see him all the time. It’s really good for him because it cheers him up,” Patterson said.

Josh Patterson’s visitors focus on the positive, sharing stories and memories of their time with him. The Pattersons keep a notebook in the waiting area, which visitors use to write messages to their friend. While waiting to see him, they chat with each other. Friends talk about the spring break trip he took to Cancun, while two neighbors from West Chester reminisce about the time they hired him to be their designated driver from a Jimmy Buffet concert.

Patterson said his son loves people, so the visitors really help.

“These notes are really hilarious,” he said, indicating the notebook. “We read those to him so they’ll cheer him up.”

Patterson is thankful for many people who have helped the family over the past week. He said university officials have offered assistance in every way – from psychological counseling to hotel accommodations.

“The president, Karen Holbrook, has called everybody. I’ve talked to her, and she’s very concerned,” Patterson said.

Patterson also expressed his gratitude to the firefighters and emergency medical technicians who helped save his son’s life.

“They had to crawl into that house. Initially, the visibility was only about 24 inches – the smoke was down that low,” he said. “To crawl in there into that darkness to find those young adults and pull them out – it’s pretty amazing.”

What happened to him

that night

Based on the accounts of the emergency personnel who were on the scene, eyewitnesses and Josh’s notes, Patterson has pieced together what happened to his son the night he and his girlfriend, Jennifer Lehran, were awakened by the fire.

“As I understand it, he pulled her (Lehran) to the back step area, then Joshua somehow propelled himself – he walked or crawled back in there, probably crawled,” Patterson said. “I said, ‘Why did you go back in there?’ And he said he was looking for other people.”

Lehran was treated and released from OSU Medical Center that same day.

But once Josh Patterspm was back in the smoke-filled hallway, he soon passed out from breathing the smoke.

“Just inhaling that burned Josh’s esophagus and his lungs. That’s primarily what they’re trying to fix in intensive care,” Patterson said Friday.

By the time firefighters reached the hallway where he was, the smoke almost completely obscured their view of him.

“The fireman who saved Josh said he crawled in – he said it was pitch black, and the only thing they really have is their eyes for seeing and their feel. So he saw this leg there and grabbed it and pulled it towards him – it was Joshua’s leg.”

Josh Patterson was the last person firefighters got out of the building.

“I asked the fireman, ‘Where were you?’ and he said, ‘Well, we could not go back in, because as soon as we got him out the visibility went down to like zero, and we couldn’t go back into the house, because then we’d be just blind totally.’ “

Patterson said even though his son survived the fire, he and his family have tried to be there for those who were not so lucky.

“We don’t know why some people made it out and others don’t. You have mixed feelings – you’re really blessed and you feel really sad too, at the same time.”

He offered his own remembrance of his son’s roommates.

“All the boys in the house – but Kyle and Al especially – they were really full of life, and they lived every day, and they exemplified strength of character.”