“This has thrown (son Michael) completely out of everything he was happy with. His whole world collapsed,” Wayne Priddy,

MURRAY (AP) When Murray State University students returned to campus for fall classes, Michael Priddy wasnt among them. The accounting and computer information systems major would have been a junior. Instead, he is trying to recover from last falls dormitory arson fire that killed a fellow fourth-floor resident Michael Minger of Niceville, Fla., and left Priddy with serious injuries. As he tries to overcome the physical and mental scars of the fire, Priddy hopes for an eventual recovery that would allow him to get his education and future career back on track. I guess Im going to work for an accounting firm of some sort, Michael Priddy told the Murray Ledger & Times in an interview at his rented home near Metropolis, Ill. Priddys voice is still raspy from the smoke he breathed during the Sept. 18 fire. Burns forced Priddy to undergo two major graft operations to replace skin on his fingers and forearms. He still wears a pressure suit to keep the new skin from curling. A bigger problem, though, is Michaels short-term memory loss, believed to have been caused by a lack of oxygen. On bad days, Wayne Priddy said, his son forgets pieces of information 10 minutes after being told. A dedicated high school student who played chess well and often, Michael Priddy carried a near-perfect grade point average through high school, tripped up only by a B in typing, Wayne Priddy said. Michael Priddy won a partial academic scholarship at Murray State and proceeded to come into his own, his father said. He was like a blossoming flower. He was the happiest Ive ever seen him in his life, he said. Michael Priddy had good grades at Murray State and had made numerous friends. The weekend before the fire, he spent most of a day searching the Internet for Korean music to record for some international friends who were homesick, Wayne Priddy said. Thats the kind of guy Michael is, he said. Many of Michaels friends visited him in Vanderbilt University Medical Centers burn unit in Nashville, Tenn., where he was hospitalized for nearly three weeks after the fire. The younger Priddy began working toward returning to Murray State and enrolled in an accounting class at Paducah Community College this summer, partly to work toward his major and partly to test his mental abilities. He got a hard-earned B after devoting upward of 10 hours a day studying for the class, his father said. This fall, the plan is for Priddy to take two classes at PCC.Hopefully, some day, well work it to where he can be a full-time student, Wayne Priddy said. But doctors cant agree on when, if or how much of Michael Priddys damaged mental capabilities will return, Wayne Priddy said. This has thrown him completely out of everything he was happy with, the father said. His whole world collapsed. Wayne Priddy teases his son, saying he could become a fire marshal because he immediately looks for sprinklers and fire and smoke detectors as soon as he walks into a building. Such an inspection is not something either would have thought of a year ago, Wayne Priddy said. Jerry Wayne Walker of Mayfield, a former Murray State University student, has been charged with murder, first-degree arson and first-degree assault in connection with the deadly dorm blaze. In the wake of the fire, new sprinkler heads have been installed in each room at Hester Hall dormitory, where the fire occurred, along with a speaker for a new voice alarm system and an emergency evacuation chart inside the door. Sprinkler systems also have been installed in four other high-rise dorms on the Murray State campus. The fire changed a lot of things, Wayne Priddy said. Michael moved into a four-room house about 13 miles north of Paducah in early June, about the time he began taking the accounting class at PCC. It wasnt long before Wayne Priddy was living there, too. That wasnt the original intent, Wayne said. It just worked out that way. The fire injured the entire Priddy family, the father said. He declined to talk specifics. Debbie Priddy, who still lives in the couples Paducah home, declined to be interviewed. The family was once so close, almost inseparable, Wayne Priddy said. You want to break down and cry, and every once in a while you do, he said. But when you do, Michael does, and you think, Well, thats not good for us. Michael Priddy said family life has been pretty crappy. He still talks to a therapist, but only occasionally because of financial reasons, his father said. Insurance is not exactly running to pay the bills, Wayne Priddy said. He said that among the $200,000 or so in medical bills remaining is Michaels emergency room visit the day of the fire. Ive just been piling them up, just let em go, the father said. Michael Priddys mental capacities could improve in a year to 18 months, depending on what doctor you talk to, said Wayne Priddy, who has searched the Internet looking for answers. I dont think anybody really knows, he said.