"The burn scars that were suffered by little Matt may have caused our lives to change, but my wife and I still have to be parents. What makes our jobs as parents easier is the Children’s Burn Foundation."

Matthew Gravelin

Ni Na
In March 2007, 17-year-old Ni Na Phung was approached and asked out on a date by a 21-year-old would-be suitor during her friend’s birthday party. Ni Na is from the town of Da Nang, Vietnam near the Marble Mountains. Aware that her family was opposed to dating, Ni Na refused to go out with the suitor, not wanting to dishonor her parents. read more >>

Youssif
On January 15, 2007, 4-year old Youssif was playing outside of his family’s home in Iraq, when two masked men drove up, doused him with gasoline and set him on fire. Youssif spent two months in an Iraqi hospital as a result of the severe burns that covered his face. But there was little doctors there could do. read more >>

Dami
In November of 2006, Dami, a 3-year old boy living with his family in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, was horribly burned in an accident at his family’s home. As evening fell, he had asked his uncle to turn on the home’s generator so that he could watch television. read more >>

Yulce
In November of 2002, 11-year-old Yulce Delangi’s life changed forever when the kerosene lamp she was lighting exploded in her face. There was no treatment for Yulce’s burns or medication to ease her excruciating pain on the remote island of Paca in Indonesia, where she lived. When the burns caused her skin to contract, she could no longer close her eyes. Eating and drinking became increasingly difficult. read more >>

Ipte-hal
Ipte-hal was 17-years-old when she was burned in her native Sudan after a disgruntled business partner of her father’s threw sulfuric acid on her face. Following the incident, Ibte-hal and her family fled Sudan and came to Los Angeles. read more >>

Zubaida
In August 2001, 9-year-old Zubaida found herself engulfed in flames when after pouring kerosene into an indoor home cooking stove the fuel exploded. Living in the Farah province of Afghanistan, there was no place nearby to seek medical treatment, her father went to a local healer and was given ointments. As her condition worsened he decided to travel to Iran for treatment. In Iran, her father was given no hope of her survival. read more >>

Mahsoom
Mahsoom, which means “innocent” in Dari, a language spoken in the Farah province in western Afghanistan, was six-years-old when he was horribly disfigured by the explosion of a propane gas burner in his families’ home. read more >>

Luis
On January 1999, three-year-old Luis was burned when hot food spilled onto his head, face and arms at his home in Sinaloa, Mexico. The resulting burns left non-hair-bearing hypertrophic scars on left side of his scalp and keloid scars on his cheek. read more >>

Elizabeth
In December 2007, four-year-old Elizabeth, whose parents are American missionaries in Capula, Michoacan, Mexico, was burned while playing with the pilot lighter on a heater in her home. Elizabeth lit a piece of paper on fire, which in turn caught her dress on fire. She suffered burns on 25% of her body with third degree burns to her neck, chest and top of her legs. read more >>

Dwight
On January 3, 2006, six-year-old Dwight Sales along with his cousins and friends, all between the ages of 6 and 10 years old, were attending a house party in the Philippines when they decided to explore a nearby make-shift house. According to Dwight’s mother the children discovered that the house was used for storing fireworks. read more >>

Chinonye
Chinonye was 14-years-old when she suffered a horrific accident. Agreeing to help her sister prepare the family meal, Chinonye was checking on a pot of stew when she suffered an epileptic seizure and fell face first into the fire. The pots scalding contents tumbled onto her head. read more >>

Juan
Juan was five years old when he was seriously burned in a house fire that resulted in the death of his two-year old sister. Juan's father had taken his seven-year old daughter to school on his way to work as a gardener. Juan's motherwas cleaning the bedroom, and the two young children were playing in the kitchen where small candles were burning to counternct cooking odors. Screams brought the mother running, but it was too late. Smoke had filled the room. A passerby heard the screams and was able to pull Juan and his mother to safety. Two-year old Ruby was not so fortunate. read more >>