MONT VERNON – The Mont Vernon man seriously injured in a fire in Taiwan this summer has been discharged from the Taiwan hospital earlier this week and will be flying home.

Alex Haas, 27, was burned over 90 percent of his body during the fire in June that injured more than 500 people at a water park.

Now he is staying in a hotel and being cared for by his parents, said his cousin, Melanie Tamposi, in an email.

Alex goes back to the hospital every other day for outpatient therapy, she said, and is doing a lot of physical therapy and "walking, climbing stairs and just trying to stay as active as possible without overdoing it.

"He’s pushing himself as hard as he can because he wants to resume ‘normal’ life as soon as possible," she said.

Friends and family are raising money for Haas, and the Go Fund Me website says more than half of the $200,000 goal has been reached, from donations from 1,502 people and businesses.

Alex’s mother and father have been in Taiwan, and Leslie Haas reported on Aug. 23 that he was discharged.

"He will be going back to the hospital on Monday for his bandage changes and physical therapy," Alex’s mother, reported on social media. "He will continue this every other day until we go home … Alex first and foremost will need to rest and readjust to his life with a lot of rehabilitation."

Alex had been in Taiwan teaching English with the HESS International Educational Group.

On June 26, about 1,000 spectators had been at the Color Play Asia event at the Formosa Fun Coast water park, just outside the capital Taipei when a night of fun turned nightmarish. The fire was sparked by an accidental explosion of colored theatrical powder thrown from a stage.

During the weeks following the fire at least 10 of the victims died, and of the 500 people injured, more than 200 sustained serious injuries.

In previous posts his mother reported that visiting doctors from Johns Hopkins Burn Center made a special trip to MacKay Hospital in Taiwan and "provided a vote of confidence in the Taiwanese doctors’ treatment of Alex. We already knew they were doing great, but it was nice to know nothing was lost in translation."

One surgery involved using skin from his foot and calf to replace damaged skin on his arms and legs.

Tamposi said it will probably take about a year and a half until he is able to get back to "working, exercising, etc. full time. The plan for when he gets home is to check in with a local hospital to make sure his wounds and everything are still in good shape after the long flight from Taiwan."

Support from people has been vital to his recovery, she said.

"The doctors, nurses, and hospital staff as well as the thousands praying across the world have also been major factors in his recovery. We never lost hope, even when we were told he had a 10 percent chance of survival. As his family, we’ve
been overwhelmed by Alex’s resilience and tenacity in such a terrifying time."