Doctors treating Michael Brewer, the Broward boy badly burned by five classmates, said on Thursday that they had completed the first of many surgeries to repair the extensive damage to the boy's skin and expressed cautious optimism about his recovery.

``This is going as well as it can be hoped to go. Nothing bad has happened, and in our world that's good,'' Dr. Nicholas Namias, director of the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Burn Center, told reporters at a news conference.

Michael, said Namias, underwent surgery for the first time Monday when doctors took skin grafts from cadavers to temporarily cover burns on his body.

``If it went as we hoped, we're going to be in a holding pattern right now with critical care, waiting for some healing and waiting to make a decision on the next operation,'' Namias said.

Michael, said Namias, remains sedated and can respond by squeezing a hand or twitching his eye.

On Wednesday, Michael's parents, Valerie and Michael, issued a statement through the UM-Jackson Memorial Burn Center saying their son ``is in critical but stable condition and doing well.''

``The recovery process will be baby steps but eventually he will be whole again,'' they said.

The Broward Sheriff's Office has reported that the Oct. 12 attack on Michael was rooted in a dispute over a video game. Brewer owed classmate Matthew Bent $40 for the game, but didn't give him any money. To get even, Bent tried to steal a $500 bike from Brewer's dad. The Brewer family reported the incident to police.

BSO deputies arrested Bent, who spent the night in a juvenile facility.

Neither Bent nor Brewer, who was afraid of retaliation, went to school on Oct. 12, a Monday.

But just before 3 p.m., Brewer ran into Bent and the four other teens at the Lime Street Apartments at 429 SE 13th Ct.

In confronting Brewer, Bent ordered the others to set him ablaze with rubbing alcohol. Denver Jarvis, 15, poured the rubbing alcohol, while Jesus Mendez, 15, used a lighter to set the teen on fire. The other two, Jeremy Jarvis, 13, and Steven Shelton, 15, watched and did nothing, BSO said.

Mendez faces a charge of second-degree attempted murder, while the others each were charged with aggravated battery.

The five boys have been placed in a juvenile detention facility after making separate appearances in court. All were Michael's classmates at Deerfield Beach Middle School.