- Joseph Pesola is under care at a Utah burn care center after his truck caught fire and left him with 67% of his body covered in deep 3rd degree burns.
- The family has created a GoFundMe so they turn their focus to his recovery
- Follow along with Joe's Journey to recovery on Facebook
READ MORE | Meridian man severely burned at Ontario truck stop fire
Updated Nov 13th
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Joseph Pesola is recovering in a Utah burn center after the unimaginable happened.
“Well Joe’s someone that you would want living next to you. He’s willing to help you in any Pastor Kendall Doty, TVBC.
The 61-year-old devoted father and grandfather from Meridian, was just getting back into truck driving, when his truck caught fire and left him with 67% of his body covered in deep 3rd degree burns. This after recovering from a heart surgery he had back in August.
His daughter Savana says her dad has lived a selfless life, as he has proudly served in the United States Air Force. Now, he has been a leader in his local church for almost two decades.
“He headed up our ‘RU’ ministry for a while, Reformers Unanimous, it’s a faith based addictions program,” said Pastor Rick DeMichele.
Many are taking to social media to express their love and support for Joe.
“Well Joe’s had a ministry from Florida to Idaho over the last 40 years so he’s touched a lot of people’s lives and a lot of people care about him,” said Pastor Doty.
When I asked how the church’s community felt when they heard the news about Joseph, Pastor DeMichele said he was deeply saddened, “because of what he is going through and what he is going to go through. Burns like that are bad.”
“It’s something you didn’t want to happen to him, because he is a very selfless person. It’s hard to digest, but here we digest a lot of stuff here. All we can do is pray for him, rally the troops to get behind him, and be there for the family,” said Pastor Doty.
The Treasure Valley church says another way to support, is financially.
You can continue to follow Joe’s Journey on Facebook for updates from his daughter and family.
