Nicole Weisensee Egan/People
It has been 43 years, and still, Kim Phuc lives with the daily reminders of the atrocities of war.
Nearly four decades later, Phuc is receiving laser treatment to help ease the pain of scars from the napalm. (Photo: Nick Ut/AP)
In June 1972, when she was just 9 years old, Phuc suffered burns on over 65 percent of her body when American forces mistakenly dropped napalm bombs on the South Vietnamese temple where she and her family had taken refuge.
Associated Press photographer Nick Ut’s photograph of her running naked and screaming from the flames became an iconic image of the Vietnam War – and earned him a Pulitzer.
Over the years, Phuc made peace with what happened to her – forming a foundation to help other child victims of war and traveling the world as an inspirational speaker to share her story of love, hope and forgiveness – but gave up on ever finding relief from the pain.
Then fate intervened.
A few years ago, Phuc traveled to Ohio to speak to a local rotary club. In the audience was David Waibel, 71, of Troy, Ohio.
It just so happened that Waibel’s daughter-in-law is Miami dermatologist Jill Waibel, who has pioneered a technique for burn victims using fractional lasers.
This iconic photo taken by Pulitzer-Prize winner Nick Ut captured the horrors of war. (Photo: Nick Ut/AP)
He gave her Jill’s contact information and Phuc did reach out, but it wasn’t until September when she was able to actually start the treatments.
Hampered by finances (she and husband, Bui Huy Toan, 56, live off his salary as a social worker), Phuc didn’t have enough money to pay for the treatments or for the expenses associated with traveling from Toronto, where she lives, to Miami.
So Jill, who had already agreed to do the treatments for free, found a donor willing to cover travel expenses for Phuc and her husband.
Jill thinks she can get them to the point where they’ll be almost invisible to the naked eye, but for Phuc, it’s more about being pain free.
“It’s not about having my scars gone,” she adds, “but about relieving the pain I’ve endured for 43 years.”
To read more, click here: http://www.people.com/article/kim-phuc-napalm-girl-vietnam-war-burn-treatments
