MIAMI -- The mother of a Deerfield Beach teenager who was deliberately set on fire spoke for the first time Thursday morning about what happened to her son.

If Michael Brewer survives his burns, doctors said his road to recovery will be long and riddled with setbacks.

Police said a group of teenagers set Brewer on fire Monday afternoon at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex. Five suspects were arrested in connection with the incident.

On "Good Morning America" Thursday, Brewer's mother, Valerie Brewer, told a national audience that her son is very strong.

"He has a tube to help him breathe, so he's not able to speak to us, but he has actually sat up in bed and tried to tell me to take his tubes out and that he wants a glass of water, and then he goes back to sleep," Valerie Brewer said.

Brewer suffered second- and third-degree burns over 65 percent of his body when, police said, he was doused with rubbing alcohol and set afire.

Broward Sheriff's Office deputies said the group that set Brewer on fire did so because they wanted revenge because Brewer had turned one of them in for trying to steal a bike.

Valerie Brewer acknowledged that at least two of the suspects were longtime friends, children who have spent the night at her house, but she refrained from commenting on their actions.

"I do know them but I would really not like to discuss that," she said.

Brewer jumped into a pool to put out the flames. He suffered the worst burns on his torso and arms. Doctors said he would likely battle organ failure and infection before his condition improves.

"The fact that he got into a pool probably did cool the burning process," said Dr. Nicolas Namias of Jackson Memorial Hospital. "But the running part may have fanned the flames, so it's hard to know, especially with an accelerant fluid like alcohol."

Namias called the injury a life-changing event for Brewer, but the teen's mother hopes it has the same effect for those across the nation who are outraged by the story.

"It's just unimaginable," Valerie Brewer said. "Please, everybody out there, take a hold of your children and love them, love everybody's children, and let them know that these things are not right. Violence doesn't solve anything."

At Deerfield Middle School, where Brewer and all five suspects attend school, their classmates have been signing posters and cards, wishing Brewer a speedy recovery, and collecting money to the help the Brewer family pay medical bills.

"They're serious about it and they're looking for information. They want to know how he's doing. They want to know what's going on," said Dr. Alisa Feldman, the seventh-grade language arts teacher who has organized the fundraising effort.

Feldman said that Brewer and the teen suspected of dousing him with alcohol are in the same classroom. She said the attack had a profound effect on the entire school. The groups and cliques in which many middle school students find their identities have united in their feelings about the incident and the schoolmates who police said are responsible.

"They're actually thinking, 'What were these other students thinking? How could they possibly have put another person in such jeopardy?'" Feldman said.