A famous photograph taken at the time showed 9-year-old Kim Phuc fleeing from the scene in the village of Trang Bang near Saigon – she had ripped off her clothes to stop the burning.
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More than 40 years later she can hide the scars beneath long sleeves, but that betrays the pain she has endured since that errant napalm strike in 1972.
The 52-year-old said being free from pain would be like “heaven on earth” Sky News reported.
From her home in Canada, where she shifted with her husband in early 1990s, Mrs Phuc travelled to Miami to visit a dermatologist, a specialist in laser treatments for burn patients. Last month, Phuc, 52, began laser treatments that her doctor, Jill Waibel, says will smooth and soften the thick scar tissue that ripples from her left hand up her arm, up her neck to her hairline and down nearly all of her back.
After 43 years of pain, Kim Phuc finally receives a treatment that might fully alleviate her suffering.
Nick Ut, the AP photojournalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for Phuc’s photograph, has stayed in touch with Phuc and is documenting her treatment.
Reminiscing the moment, Mr Ut said he remembered the young girl screaming she was feeling “too hot”. Due to the severity and the extent of her burns, it is expected that Phuc will need to undergo treatment for the next seven months. The couple live outside Toronto with their two sons, aged 21 and 18. “I look at that picture and I just wish and dream that I never see another child suffer like that”, she says. She has also founded the Kim Phuc Foundation global – a non-profit organization that works to provide medical and psychological assistance to children worldwide who have been changed by war.
It’s a dream come true for Kim Phuc, who is happy to have Nick Ut, a man she considers to be her uncle, by her side during the process. Each treatment typically costs $1,500 to $2,000, but Ms Waibel offered to donate her services when Ms Phuc contacted her for a consultation. She thought that she would have to wait until she died to be scar and pain free. The treatments, used primarily to smooth out wrinkles around the eyes, will in Phuc’s case be used to melt her skin to a point where it can heal. Napalm was still sticking to her skin.
The procedure creates microscopic holes in the skin, which allows topical, collagen-building medicines to be absorbed deep through the layers of tissue.
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Since gaining fame for being the infamous “napalm girl”, Kim has led a hard life. Maybe it takes a year. “But I am really excited – and thankful”.
