“They Saw A Video Of A Doll's Eyes On Fire, So They Bought One And Set It On Fire,” The Mum Said

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

What began as a playful attempt to recreate a trick she had seen online ended in tragedy for young Mouza Kaseb, on her seventh birthday. The Ras Al Khaimah child suffered severe burns from her chest down to her belly after her dress caught fire during an experiment with her cousins.

“They saw a video on social media of fire coming out of dolls' eyes, so they bought a doll and wanted to light it on fire,” explained her mother, Um Mouza.“We wanted to play the 'evil dolls' game,” added Mouza enthusiastically.

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“Mouza was wearing a kandoura mkhawara (traditional jalabiya with beads and artwork) which lights up quickly. When it caught fire, she ran outside instead of coming to us, and the midday sun made it worse,” explained her mother.

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The accident happened on April 24 - the same day Mouza turned seven.“Everybody heard her scream. Her brother was driving in and saw her kandoura completely on fire, so he tore it open and rushed her to the hospital,” added Um Mouza.

Mouza was transferred by ambulance from Sheikh Khalifa Specialty Hospital in Ras Al Khaimah to Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC) in Abu Dhabi.“She was severely crying through the two hours, but as soon as we arrived, she calmed down,” her mother recalled.“Immediately, they admitted us in a room and started treatment. All her chest to above the belly button, shoulders, back and even some of her hair were affected.”

At SSMC's Burn Centre, Mouza underwent several weeks of sophisticated procedures including biodegradable temporising matrix (BTM) therapy and Meek grafting.“We stayed here for 66 days. It was so new for me; I had no idea how burns are treated. The medical team briefed us on every step and even used tools and methods to avoid imposing extra pain on her,” her mother said.

Despite the ordeal, Mouza adapted quickly.“She even made so many friends, exchanged gifts, and used to motivate the kids to play. She decided she wants to become a physiotherapist.”

Today, Mouza is back at school, walking and playing like other children and sharing her story.“Now no more pain. The doctors said the scars will eventually heal with time,” her mother said.“I'm slightly afraid of flames now. I will not play with fire again,” concluded the seven-year-old.

Innovative treatments saving young lives

Dr Simon Myers, Consultant and Division Chair of Burn Surgery at SSMC, said Mouza's recovery was made possible thanks to innovative treatments now being used in the UAE.

“The first product and the newest is called BTM, which is biodegradable temporising matrix,” he explained.“It's a polyurethane foam used for full-thickness wounds. What we do is graft it on the wound; over three to four weeks, small blood vessels grow into that foam. Later, we peel off the top layer and put thin skin grafts on top. The great advantage is longer-term cosmesis – the appearance of the scars.”

BTM has only been available internationally for a few years, and SSMC has been using it since early 2023.“It's particularly relevant in children because children scar way, way worse than adults,” Dr Myers noted.“With wounds that take more than three weeks to heal, the scar rates go dramatically up from 30 per cent to 80 per cent. Children tend to develop hypertrophic scars around three months after injury - very lumpy, itchy and painful scars.”

To complement BTM, the hospital also uses Meek grafting, a technique that expands tiny squares of the patient's skin to cover much larger areas.“In massive injuries, you don't have enough of the patient's own skin. The Meek system allows us to expand a small patch up to six times its size, and the quality of the skin tends to be better,” Dr Myers explained.

Treating one of the UAE's most severe adult burn cases

Alongside paediatric patients like Mouza, the Burn Centre also treats adults with catastrophic injuries. Dr Myers cited the case of a man in his 50s who suffered burns covering 90 per cent of his body following a suspected gas explosion.

“The chance of you surviving relates to the size of the burn and your age. If you add the age to the burn percentage and it's more than 140, then you've got almost no chance of survival. This gentleman's score was exactly 140,” said Dr Myers.

Against the odds, the patient has survived several months in intensive care.“He's largely healed, with maybe 15 per cent unhealed. He's alive and doing okay at the minute. He's septic right now, but that's not unusual for burn patients.” The case, which has involved repeated surgeries and the use of donor skin sourced from international banks, has been described by the medical team as one of the most challenging they have faced in recent years, he added.

Preventable tragedies

While innovative treatments are saving lives, Dr Myers stressed that many burn cases remain preventable.“Unfortunately, in the UAE we see a lot of fairly dramatic burns in children.” To give a comparison, he said in the UK, hospitals could probably receive five large burn injuries nationally in a year for“a much bigger population”.

“Here, with only around 10 million people, we at this centre alone could easily see five cases in a single year, sometimes more. It's very sad, especially because many of these are preventable.” Deep burns often occur when children's clothes catch fire while playing with matches or a lighter.“But we also see nasty scald injuries, which are again largely preventable.”

We also see injuries from gas explosions at home, not industrial ones – usually from leaking canisters,” he added.

While the ordeal has been life-changing, Mouza's her resilience offers hope. Her mother said,“At first, I thought once we checked out, the girl would be fully healed, as if nothing had happened. But the doctors explained to me that it takes time. From three to six months to one year, you will see a difference.”

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