Woman In Critical Condition Monday After Greenville County Fire

By: Melissa Keeney | News Channel 7
Published: July 27, 2009

**Monday Morning Update**

Annette “Sissy” Thomason remains in critical condition Monday at Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta, Georgia.

Beyond a charred shell, little is left of the home where 45 year old Larry Painter lived for years. His niece, Breanna, has just a few memories of the uncle she loved and lost. "He always had a smile on his face, even if he was in a bad mood. Always had a smile on his face, stayed happy," she says.

Family members say the 45 year old father woke up to the smell of smoke Saturday morning, and saw the flames. He then rushed to get his 16 year old son out of bed. Breanna says, "His dad woke him up, and told him to get out of the house. It was on fire." The family says Painter stayed in the home to save his fiance, 40 year old Annette "Sissy" Thomason. The teenage son then tried to save them both. "He kicked the air conditioning out of his bedroom, tried to go back in. The flames were too strong. He couldn't get in."

Firefighters were able to rescue Thomason, who was immediately flown to the Doctor's Hospital Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia. Painter did not make it. His niece says just months ago, doctors diagnosed her uncle with an enlarged heart and gave him just 24 hours to live. Painter survived. A fire this fierce, she says, was just too much. "He came through it, and then this happened."

For now, they're hanging on to what little they can save, including a Bible pulled from the ashes. They'll use it to pray for those who made it, while remembering the man who risked his live trying to save them both. "I'm gonna miss him a lot."

Painter's son made it out of the fire with few injuries. As of late Sunday, Sissy Thomason remained in critical condition at the Doctor's Hospital Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia. Investigators have not ruled on a cause for the fire.