Wolverhampton girl treated for severe burns now back dancing

Ruby Burton, aged 14, was left with big blisters on her feet after hot oil accidentally splashed onto her foot during a task in her kitchen at home.

The youngster had been asked to put garlic bread into the oven but there was a tray of oil still in there, which splashed on her when she moved it.

She screamed out "my ankle" and was later, after her parents tried to help her, taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital due to her severe injuries.

Her mother Linda said: "The burn started out small at first, so we continued to keep it under cold water and we wrapped it in cling film and applied ice cold compresses until the pain subsided around 1am.

"The next day there were big blisters on her feet, so we took her to hospital, they drained the blisters and passed us onto Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

"She came out of hospital the day before her older sister’s birthday, and the hospital had then managed her dressings, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. When she came out of hospital her full leg was bandaged and she was on crutches."

The burn unit at Birmingham Children's Hospital dressed the wounds daily at first, then transferred the youngster to the specialist centre a few days later after she developed signs of cellulitis.

It was agreed that she would need skin from her leg to be grafted onto her foot in three places to allow the wounds to heal. And it required Ruby, a talented young dancer, to be on crutches.

Her mother added: "She has always been a dancer, and she was gutted that she couldn’t go back straight away. By mid-November she returned to dancing after many physio appointments.

"She does ballet, tap, street, jazz, contemporary and lyrical dancing and has danced since she was two, so it was a big thing that she couldn’t go straight back to dancing."

The 14-year-old was able to return to dancing and was part of dance teams which reached the All-England Championship finals and qualified for the Dance World Cup.

"She is even back en pointe which I definitely didn’t think she would be doing this quickly, I thought it would take at least three years," the youngster's mother added.

"The team in the Burns unit have been absolutely brilliant. They make Ruby feel comfortable and relaxed the whole time she is there. The team are so reassuring, nice and welcoming. We can’t fault it. We are so grateful for everything the team has done for Ruby and continues to do now.”

During her stay the youngster was one of the first patients to test out the team's use of virtual reality headsets – to distract patients under local anaestetic while the dressings are changed.

Ruby said everyone at the hospital had been "really lovely and helped me" and she was "excited to get back to dancing", adding: "Don’t stop believing that you will recover, even when you might doubt it, because you will make it through your darkest moments."

Clare Thomas, lead nurse in the Burns Centre, spoke about the importance of acting quickly when someone receives a burns. She said: "We are so pleased that Ruby is recovering from her burn injury and has been able to return to dancing – something that she loves.

“We see and treat many children and young people that have sustained a burn, the immediate treatment given after the accident is really important and we advise following the Three C's - Cool the burn, Cover with cling-film and Call 111 or 999 for assistance.

“We wish Ruby and her family all the best for the future and we’re glad they had a positive experience when being treated by the Burns Centre Team. We are always looking at new and innovative ways of helping patients and families following a burn injury and are grateful that Ruby participated in using the VR technology giving her feedback so we can progress the care and treatment we give.”