A mom is speaking out after a normal task like removing your nail polish turned almost deadly for her 14-year-old daughter.
In an interview with People, 14-year-old Kennedy explained how removing her nail polish next to a burning candle sent her to the hospital. “I had to take my fingernail polish off because it’s not in uniform and as I was taking it off I had a candle near me on my bed,” Kennedy explained saying this wasn’t the first time she had a candle burning while taking her nail polish off.
“As I was setting the bottle of nail polish remover down on my bed the fumes kind of just mixed together and the bottle exploded in my hand. It caught me and everything near me on fire.”
Kennedy explained that as the flames ignited, her hair, arms, hands, bed, and clothes caught on fire. “I was really scared and I was screaming and just trying to do as much as I could to stop me being on fire and just get out.”
Kennedy was home alone with her four other siblings. Their parents were at work.
Thankfully, as two of her siblings came running to help after hearing her distressing screams, Kennedy was able to stop herself from burning. The children were able to get out of the home to call 911.
“It’s nothing I’ve ever been through before. I was still in a lot of shock but after the adrenaline wore down, I was in a lot of pain,” Kennedy explained.
Kennedy’s mom, Brandi, described the scene as “horrific,” seeing her daughter “being covered in bubbles and welts and her skin being melted away. It was a wild experience.”
Brandi and Kennedy hope that their story will be a lesson for others. “Most kids in high school know that an open flame and an accelerant don’t belong together but sometimes we just don’t think of these things,” Brandi explained.
“And then teaching your kids fire safety as well because if they didn’t know to shut that door, they all could have all been hurt,” Brandi continued telling People. “Things can change at the drop of a hat. Accidents really do happen.”
Kennedy was rushed to the burn unit of the Shriners Children’s Hospital where she immediately underwent a major procedure to have her wounds cleaned and the dead skin removed. “Kennedy ended up having full thickness injuries on her abdomen, both thighs and then her right arm. And the other areas she was able to heal without having to have it excised and grafted,” Kennedy’s doctor told People. “But she did have pretty extensive injuries to kind of the whole front side of her.”
“I’ve been healing really well and no big bumps have occurred,” Kennedy revealed to People. “The whole process of the skin grafts healing takes about a year, a little over. So by next year, maybe in March or April, I should be completely done with the healing process.”
Brandi also praised her daughter for how well she has handled everything. “Kennedy’s a little warrior. She really has pushed through everything and they’re really surprised at how well she’s healing.”
“Three weeks later… it’s just amazing how it looks now. Doctors say she’s going to have minimal scarring, minimal everything. Their goal is to make sure she’s comfortable with her body afterwards so we are very appreciative of them.”
“Kennedy’s awesome,” her doctors admitted. “And she’s moved through this process actually fairly fast and I think it’s a testament to her mental toughness.”