LEWISTON – Despite suffering serious burns after his Halloween costume caught fire last year, Kenneth Daigle Jr. plans to celebrate this year.

He’ll make and wear another homemade costume and attend local parties.

“No glue, no cotton balls,” Daigle joked. “I thought about going as a fire extinguisher. “

Daigle, 29, has recovered from the second- and third-degree burns he suffered at a party last Halloween. He was dressed as a sheep – covered in cotton balls – and was too close to a person smoking a cigarette.

The glue he used to attach the cotton balls turned out to be flammable. The cigarette instantly set his arm ablaze. The fire rushed to his legs. Daigle spent a month at Maine Medical Center undergoing painful treatment, including several skin graft operations.

“It felt like forever,” he said.

Today he’s feeling good and is back at work, managing Little Joe’s Chuck Wagon bar on Sabattus Street, which his parents ran for years. He’s happy about that, as is his father. “My dad’s back driving and training harness horses.”

When he got out of the hospital just before Thanksgiving last year, Daigle could barely walk and could not drive. He moved in with his parents, June and Kenneth Daigle Sr. of Durham, and underwent daily physical therapy.

Getting up in the morning was difficult. During the night his injured legs became stiff and painful. “Every day I felt like I was doing it for the first time,” the junior Daigle said.

Family and friends helped him through it. “They were amazing,” he said. “I had company every day. It helped.”

By March he was driving again. Around April he was well enough to return to bartending a few days a week. In July he began working full time. He now has no trouble walking or running.

“He looks fantastic to me, better than I ever hoped for,” said his mother, June. “That first night when I saw the burns, his skin just rolled off.” Now his arm and hand are about back to normal, she said.

From initial worries that her son wouldn’t live to risk of infections and the painful recovery, “it all turned out totally wonderfully,” she said. “My husband and I thank God every day for Kenny’s recovery. We thank the young men who helped save his life. When we thought we might lose Kenny, it was more that we could bear.”

People in the community, many of whom the family didn’t know, raised between $8,000 and $10,000, she said. The donations allowed Daigle to buy medicine and pay bills, including his mortgage. The generosity “saved his home,” his mother said.

The big remaining problem is his medical bills. Daigle, uninsured, owes about $100,000 for his care. He’s applied for assistance through Maine Medical, June Daigle said.

For now, Kenny Daigle is looking forward to Halloween. “It’s my favorite holiday,” he said. He plans to again win the Little Joe’s costume contest. He wouldn’t say what his costume would be.

“I’m pretty much going to do what I did last year, without the catching on fire part,” he said.