SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 18, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — An 8-year-old Mountain Home, Idaho, girl is at University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, where she underwent surgery Tuesday, with more surgeries to come, after being burned over 25% of her body.
On Saturday, Aaliyah Shepard reached over a counter in her home and didn’t realize a holiday candle was burning there, her mother, Tia Simmons, said on Facebook.
The young girl’s sequin shirt became “engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds” and melted onto her body, causing third-degree burns all over her torso, and on her hands and foot, the Facebook post says.
Aaliyah was flown by LifeFlight to the U of U Hospital burn unit, where she is expected to stay for about a month while having three more surgeries, her parents said.
Her mother said Christmas is Aaliyah’s favorite holiday, and Aaliyah has asked for people to send her Christmas cards to decorate her room while she’s in the hospital.
The address to send cards is:
Aaliyah Shepard
Room 4414
University of Utah Hospital
Fourth Floor Burn Unit
50 N Medical Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84132
A Facebook fundraiser page also has been set up.
