Reagans, Cosby Pay Visit to Burned Boy in Hospital

A 12-year-old boy fighting for life after a nightmarish attack by a bully who set him on fire perked up during bedside visits Sunday from Bill Cosby and Ronald and Nancy Reagan, hospital officials said.

Doctors say David Opont’s chances for survival remain 50-50. His struggle has elicited an outpouring of sympathy and good wishes from around the country.

“You not only can have a great feeling for him and his recovery, but down deep there is a resentment that these things can happen,” former President Reagan said after spending a few minutes with David on Sunday evening.

The hospital where the Brooklyn boy underwent two skin grafts in the past week has received more than 300 calls, including get-well messages from the Reagans, Vice President Dan Quayle, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Mayor David N. Dinkins. Jackson visited Thursday.

A week after the March 7 attack, more than 400 cards and letters arrived in a single day, along with an assortment of stuffed animals, posters and baseball caps. He also received numerous gifts, flowers and balloons on his 12th birthday, the day after the attack.

A fund set up to cover David’s medical expenses received between 15,000 and 20,000 donations in five days, said Opont family lawyer Michael Prieto, who is overseeing the contributions. About two dozen local clergy are holding a weeklong prayer vigil at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, where David was listed in critical but stable condition.

Diana Goldin, a hospital spokeswoman, said that a visit from Cosby earlier in the day delighted the heavily bandaged boy.

“David recognized him and was very pleased. He (Cosby) joked around with him,” she said.

The Reagans, who flew in from California on Sunday for an award ceremony tonight, asked to visit Opont after reading about him.

Reagan “was one of the first people to call after he (Opont) got to the hospital,” Goldin said.

Naomi Opont, David’s sister, said David brightened up and gave a small smile when he saw the Reagans, but did not speak.

Police say David’s attacker, a 13-year-old boy whose name is being withheld because of his age, admitted setting fire to the youth after tying him to a railing inside an abandoned garage.

Opont originally told relatives he was torched because he refused to smoke crack, but no drug charges have been filed against the 13-year-old.

If his recovery goes perfectly, David could be home by June. If there are complications, he could die.