The family of a Kula preschooler hopes to raise awareness and get public support as it recovers from an accident that left the boy with serious burns on his body.

Three-year-old Axton Pakaki suffered first-, second- and third-degree burns on 20 percent of his body on the night of Oct. 28 when he and his family were roasting marshmallows with friends and family in their backyard in Kula.

The Pakakis built their home in the Waiohuli subdivision about a year ago and set up a 3-foot backyard fire pit surrounded by a foot-high rock wall.

Axton, and his identical twin brother, Aiden, were playing about 20 feet from the pit when Axton suddenly ran toward the fire, accidentally tripped and fell into the pit.

Standing next to the fire, Axton's mother, Donna, managed to pull her son out within seconds. He was screaming and crying.

"When you're in that situation, it's like it becomes slow motion," Donna Pakaki recalled Wednesday. "It was really scary."

Axton was taken by ambulance to Maui Memorial Medical Center and eventually was flown to the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children on O'ahu where he was hospitalized for more than a week.

A student at Kamehameha Schools Preschool in Paukukalo, Axton is recovering at home and does not expect to return to school until January.

Donna Pakaki said her son is healing well but is not bandage-free. There are still three areas on his back where bandages have to be changed daily.

There are also serious burn wounds on Axton's buttocks. The scabs on his face have since fallen off, although he has signs of uneven discoloration from his forehead to his cheeks.

Donna Pakaki said she expects health insurance from her workplace to cover 80 percent of the medical bills, but she does not believe her family will be able to pay for the rest of the expenses on its own.

They have not yet received any of the bills, but the family has set up a donation fund called "Friends of Axton K. Pakaki" with Bank of Hawaii.

Donna Pakaki works in room service at a local hotel, while her husband, Anson, remains at home with a disability due to neck and back problems.

Family members live in a home they helped to build with the assistance of Self Help Housing Corporation of Hawaii and Lokahi Pacific.

Donna Pakaki said what happened to her son has made her want to reach out to other families with backyard fire pits to warn them of the dangers.

"We thought we were being careful, but you just really need to be very vigilant," she said.

The crisis has brought the family closer, she said, and her boys have new attitudes since the incident.

"Little kids, they think they're invincible," she said. "My boys are more cautious now and they're more concerned about each other."