The 15-year-old Deerfield Beach boy nearly burned to death by classmates last year said he's pain free and ready to go back to school.
Michael Brewer will go to school tomorrow, a new school, for the first time since the Oct. 12 attack that left him with burns on nearly 2/3 of his body.
"I'm excited, can't wait," Brewer said Tuesday morning during an appearance on the "Today Show." "I kinda miss school, friends and stuff."
Brewer, accompanied by parents Valerie and Michael Sr. and his grandparents, said that after four skin grafts and months of rehabilitation, he's doing fine.
"I feel great," Brewer said, adding that he basically feels no pain. "Just one side of me."
Brewer said he's been playing basketball and baseball, and skateboarding and riding bikes with no fear.
"If I fall, I just get right back up and try to do it again," he said.
Brewer didn't say what school he'd be attending, but didn't have kind words for Deerfield Beach Middle School, also attended by 15-year-old Josie Lou Ratley, who was beaten nearly to death outside the school.
"That school is terrible, I don't know why I even went to that school," Brewer said.
Brewer talked about his hospital visit to Ratley and what he told her family.
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"I hope she gets better and I hope I see her again and she gets stronger like I did every day," Brewer said. "She needs to start believing in herself, she can do it."
On Oct. 12, 2009, five teens attacked Brewer near his Deerfield Beach home, dousing him with rubbing alcohol before lighting him on fire. Brewer was able to dive into a nearby pool to extinguish the flames, but suffered severe burns on over half his body.
Three of the teens involved face attempted murder charges for the attack.
Brewer had extensive surgery and suffered breathing complications after the attack, spending months in the hospital and in physical therapy.
Brewer's mother Valerie said she was amazed by the boy's response to such a horrific event.
"[He has] a lot of couarage, a lot of determination and an incredible will to live," Valerie Brewer said.
She said she's not quite as ready for her son to go back to school.
"I'm very apprehensive, I know I have to cut the cord again. I've been very protective over him, not letting him get very far from me," Valerie Brewer said. "I know he's strong and determined, he needs to get back out into the world and start experiencing real life again."
Father Michael Sr. said he's happy his son is alive.
"I'm just happy that he's still here, I knew he was gonna pull through it, " Michael Brewer Sr. said. "Thank God he's still with me, I'm happy."
Reenie Brewer, Michael's garndmother who became an advocate against child violence after the attack, said she's trying to prevent other kids from being victims of attacks like Mikey and Josie.
"Whenever anything like this happens to a family, you've got to take something positive from it," Reenie Brewer said. "If you don't, it means it was for nothing. I don't think that Mikey's suffering for all those months should be for nothing.
"I think we need to become better leaders, the grownups, the adults," she said. "I think we need to stand up and be more respectful of each other and set a much better example for our children."
Brewer also wanted to say tahnk you to all the people who sent him letters praying for his recovery.
"I think that the thing that's kept me alive is all these prayers and believing in me," Brewer said.
