Online donations are being collected to support a Vietnam veteran who set himself on fire in protest last month.
Kenn Gilchrist, 69, of Copley Road, set himself ablaze four days after 1,150 people marched through Highland Square to protest the election of Donald Trump and the divisive rhetoric exchanged throughout the presidential election.
Gilchrist suffered third-degree burns to 60 percent of his body. He is in critical but stable condition in the hospital, where he is undergoing surgeries and skin grafts, his wife, Veronica, and family friend, Michael Miller, said Friday. On a ventilator, Gilchrist cannot speak yet. The family expects a long road to recovery.
Gilchrist led a selfless life dedicated to public and private service.
He was born an orphan in Cleveland and raised in a Nebraska boys home. There, he lettered in several sports and was an all-American football player.
In his freshman year of college, he forfeited a football scholarship to join the Marines, eventually serving two tours in Vietnam. He received the Purple Heart after a piece of shrapnel punctured his left leg.
After the war, Gilchrist was a police officer in California and a parole officer in Wyoming. He also sang opera in Seattle and is writing a musical about his life. He and his wife moved to Akron in 2012. Since then, he has been an active community volunteer at the Summit County Historical Society and a Peewee football coach.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .