{"id":816460,"date":"2025-09-23T12:23:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T08:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssmc.ae\/?post_type=patient-story&p=816460"},"modified":"2025-09-24T13:55:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T09:55:05","slug":"uae-7-year-old-girl-burned-from-chest-to-stomach-after-trying-social-media-stunt","status":"publish","type":"patient-story","link":"https:\/\/ssmc.ae\/patient-story\/uae-7-year-old-girl-burned-from-chest-to-stomach-after-trying-social-media-stunt\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven year old girl burned from chest to stomach after trying social media stunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

What began as a playful attempt to\u00a0recreate a trick she had seen online\u00a0ended 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.<\/p>

\u201cThey saw a video on social media of fire coming out of dolls\u2019 eyes, so they bought a doll and wanted to light it on fire,\u201d explained her mother, Um Mouza. \u201cWe wanted to play the \u2018evil dolls\u2019 game,\u201d added Mouza enthusiastically.<\/p>

\u201cMouza 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,\u201d explained her mother.<\/p>

The accident happened on April 24 \u2014 the same day Mouza turned seven. \u201cEverybody 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,\u201d added Um Mouza.<\/p>

Mouza was transferred by ambulance from\u00a0Sheikh Khalifa Specialty Hospital\u00a0in\u00a0Ras Al Khaimah to Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC) in Abu Dhabi. \u201cShe was severely crying through the two hours, but as soon as we arrived, she calmed down,\u201d her mother recalled. \u201cImmediately, 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.\u201d<\/p>

At SSMC\u2019s Burn Centre, Mouza underwent several weeks of sophisticated procedures including biodegradable temporising matrix (BTM) therapy and Meek grafting. \u201cWe 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,\u201d her mother said.<\/p>

Despite the ordeal, Mouza adapted quickly. \u201cShe even made so many friends, exchanged gifts, and used to motivate the kids to play. She decided she wants to become a physiotherapist.\u201d<\/p>

Today, Mouza is back at school, walking and playing like other children and sharing her story. \u201cNow no more pain. The doctors said the scars will eventually heal with time,\u201d her mother said. \u201cI\u2019m slightly afraid of flames now. I will not play with fire again,\u201d concluded the seven-year-old.<\/p>

Innovative treatments saving young lives<\/strong><\/p>

Dr Simon Myers<\/a>, Consultant and Division Chair of Burn Surgery at SSMC, said Mouza\u2019s recovery was made possible thanks to innovative treatments now being used in the UAE.<\/p>

\u201cThe first product and the newest is called BTM, which is biodegradable temporising matrix,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s 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 \u2013 the appearance of the scars.\u201d<\/p>

BTM has only been available internationally for a few years, and SSMC has been using it since early 2023. \u201cIt\u2019s particularly relevant in children because children scar way, way worse than adults,\u201d Dr Myers noted. \u201cWith 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 \u2014 very lumpy, itchy and painful scars.\u201d<\/p>

To complement BTM, the hospital also uses Meek grafting, a technique that expands tiny squares of the patient\u2019s skin to cover much larger areas. \u201cIn massive injuries, you don\u2019t have enough of the patient\u2019s 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,\u201d Dr Myers explained.<\/p>

Treating one of the UAE\u2019s most severe adult burn cases<\/strong><\/p>

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\u00a0suspected gas explosion.<\/p>

\u201cThe 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\u2019s more than 140, then you\u2019ve got almost no chance of survival. This gentleman\u2019s score was exactly 140,\u201d said Dr Myers.<\/p>

Against the odds, the patient has survived several months in intensive care. \u201cHe\u2019s largely healed, with maybe 15 per cent unhealed. He\u2019s alive and doing okay at the minute. He\u2019s septic right now, but that\u2019s not unusual for burn patients.\u201d 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.<\/p>

Preventable tragedies<\/strong><\/p>

While innovative treatments are saving lives, Dr Myers stressed that many burn cases remain preventable.\u00a0\u201cUnfortunately, in the UAE we see a lot of fairly dramatic burns in children.\u201d To give a comparison, he said in the UK, hospitals could probably receive five large burn injuries nationally in a year for \u201ca much bigger population\u201d.<\/p>

\u201cHere, with only around 10 million people, we at this centre alone could easily see five cases in a single year, sometimes more. It\u2019s very sad, especially because many of these are preventable.\u201d Deep burns often occur when children\u2019s clothes catch fire while playing with matches or a lighter. \u201cBut we also see nasty scald injuries, which are again largely preventable.\u201d<\/p>

We also see\u00a0injuries from gas explosions at home,\u00a0not industrial ones \u2013 usually from leaking canisters,\u201d he added.<\/p>

While the ordeal has been life-changing, Mouza’s her resilience offers hope. Her mother said, \u201cAt 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.\u201d<\/p>

 <\/p>

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