A NEW LIFE FROM ASHES OF THE OLD BURN VICTIM DETERMINED TO MAKE BEST OF SECOND CHANCE.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

STEVENSON RANCH - When 14-year-old Allie Haynes was badly burned and her mom ached to hold her as she lay in a hospital bed, Chris James filled in, comforting mother and daughter.

James hugged Allie's mom and told her it was from Allie.

James, now 19, was nearly killed in 1998 when a school physics experiment went terribly wrong. He knew what the Haynes family was going through and, remembering the burn survivors who had visited him, wanted to help.

``With everything I have been through, I see life in a different way,'' James said in a recent interview at his Stevenson Ranch home. ``I've learned that you only get one chance in life. You have to make the best of it.''

Today, though his scars are quite visible, the Hart High School graduate's physical recovery has been remarkable. But it's James' new determination in life that is inspiring.

A student at College of the Canyons in Valencia, James plans to transfer to UCLA with his eye on a career as a screenwriter. He and good friend Mike ``Hendo'' Henderson already are writing a screenplay revolving around three fictional teens who wind up in trouble.

James' true-life drama began two years ago during a physics experiment on a Hart High athletic field. Students were learning to measure velocity by using makeshift cannons to launch tennis balls with liquid methanol as fuel.

James' device erupted in fire, the invisible flame from the fuel burning most of his body and causing internal damage when he inhaled it.

Hospitalized five weeks, his initial prognosis grave, James fought back and recovered well enough to return to school three months later and graduate. He's undergone 22 painful surgeries and faces more to repair damage to his face and torso.

He's used the experience to help others, visiting patients in the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks and even vowing to donate to charity some of the $8 million he won in a settlement from the school district.

``It's hard not to be inspired by his story,'' said Henderson, who has witnessed his friend's trauma and recovery. ``I'm really proud of him.'' Allie Haynes was badly burned in a July 1999 propane fire in the barbecue area at the William S. Hart PONY Baseball and Softball Complex in Valencia.

James' visits, eight months after his own brush with death, gave her strength, said Haynes, now 15.

``It made me stronger,'' she said. ``I knew of everything that he had gone through, and to see him there really made me happy. He gave me a stuffed animal, and we talked about what he had gone through. Just seeing him kind of pushed me to have more self-esteem.''

He also visited Adrienne Alpert, the KABC reporter critically burned when the mast on her news van touched a power line.

``I tell them that the most important thing is to keep a positive attitude,'' James said. ``I know what they're going through. They need to keep their spirits up.''

The accident has shifted James' lifestyle as well as his goals. The onetime high school standout athlete is restricted from most sports - his injuries confine him and his damaged skin can't take much sun.

``I was a pretty big outdoors guy,'' said James, who ran track and was on the varsity soccer team at Hart. ``I played a lot of sports. It's hard not being able to be out there.''

He has taken up the drums and manages a band that his friends have put together. And he spends time dirt bike riding and playing some basketball.

``He tries to stay as active as he can,'' Henderson said.

But the continuing recovery is tough.

``It's not easy,'' James said. ``I think I've accepted the fact that this has happened to me, and this is me now.''

James is planning to travel to Chicago to seek out a specialist in nose reconstruction and will undergo further surgery on his lips.

``The scars will always be there,'' James added. ``The idea is to make the scars look better. I've got high hopes. Even if it doesn't, I've come to terms with it.''

His mother remains his biggest fan.

``I just admire the courage that he has shown,'' said his mother, Carol James. ``His attitude has been great. He doesn't dwell on what has happened to him.''

Doctors, she added, have been amazed by her son's recovery.

James takes nothing for granted these days.

``This is never going to be over,'' he said. ``I'm never going to be over with it, but I was really lucky to get a second chance, so I'm going to make the best of it.''

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Photo:

(color) Chris James draws on his experience as the victim of a fiery accident in 1998 to visit and encourage other burn victims.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer