Nine-year-old Kim Phuc Phan Thi was severely burned by a napalm bomb launched by an American warplane during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972.
50 years after an American bombing raid drastically altered her life, the lady whose photograph of her burned and wailing in agony became the symbol of the Vietnam War has received her final skin treatment.
In 1972, a photojournalist photographed the moment when nine-year-old Kim Phuc Phan Thi was seen running along a road with her body scalded and her clothing burned off after a napalm attack.
Nick Ut, a photographer for the Associated Press, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the shot.
It also earned her the nickname “Napalm Girl,” and at age 59, Ms. Phan Thi has gotten her final skin treatment for the severe scarring on her torso, which has caused her decades of misery.
Her wounds were so severe that doctors first believed she would not survive the attack, but after more than a year of treatment, her condition stabilized.
She eventually recovered from her injuries and remained in Vietnam until 1992, when she and her husband relocated to Canada, where she resides to this day.
However, she continued to experience agony and, several years ago, began specialized treatments with Dr. Jill Zwaibel in Miami, which the surgeon consented to conduct for free.
“Fifty years later, I am no longer a victim of war, I am no longer the Napalm girl; I am now a friend, a helper, a grandma, and a survivor pleading for peace,” Phan Thi told CBS as she commemorated the 50th anniversary of the day she was injured.
I looked up and saw the aircraft along with four bombs.
Ms. Phan Thi recalled in an interview with an American television network that she was playing with other children when Vietnamese soldiers ordered her to go.
“When I looked up, I saw the jet and four bombs land in this manner,” she added.
“Too warm! Too warm! “She yelled as she fled her flaming village screaming.
“I still recall what I was thinking at the time: ‘Oh my goodness, I was burned! Then I’ll be ugly, and people will perceive me differently.'”
The following day, Mr. Ut’s image appeared on the first page of The New York Times, and he is still in contact with Ms. Phan Thi.
The retired 71-year-old joined her in Miami this week to commemorate the 50th anniversary and the conclusion of her treatment.
Even the doctor predicted her demise, so there is no chance she is still alive, he told CBS.
“They answered no three times, so I held up my media credentials and said, “If she dies, my photo will be on the top page of every newspaper” They are concerned when I say this, and they immediately brought her inside.”
