Severely burned Eatonton horse begins healing journey after tragic barn fire

EATONTON, Ga. - An Eatonton family is holding on to hope one of their horses will be ok after she was severely burned in a barn fire.

The fire broke out early in the morning on Nov. 14 with several horses still inside.

"I jumped up, and I didn't even get prepared," Greg Manley said. "I had a shirt, and pants, and shoes."

Without hesitation, Greg Manley ran into the blaze, getting as many horses out as he could. He, himself, was burned.

Six horses made it to safety, but one didn't survive. That's when the Manley's realized one of the horses named Coco was in trouble.

"The horse that was burned the worst," Manley said. "Her mane was on fire when she left the barn, and I thought, well it's raining, she'll go out there and roll and put that out."

"They got her up, and they realized she was cooked," he added.

They rushed her to Countryside Equine Hospital in Covington for treatment. Her back was badly burned. Vets say 30% of her skin will be lost.

But she is beginning to heal day by day. The Manley's say her trauma is improving, and she was confident and happy during their most recent visit.

She's still with the vet, receiving care which they expect will last for another month.

"If it was that hot on me in that little bit of time that I was there, I can only imagine how it was on the horses," Manley explained.

As Coco recovers, they're now just beginning the process of rebuilding. They say they're still not exactly sure how the fire began.

"I have moments. I do have moments. But, it's just a matter of cleaning it up and starting over," Manley explained.

A friend set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with Coco's medical expenses.