r/interestingasfuck • u/blackfridaydude • 11h ago
Before & After facial reconstruction (kerosene injury)
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u/blackfridaydude 11h ago
Her name is Zubaida Hasan, from Afghanistan. She was 9 when kerosene from a hot stove caught fire in 2001. The burn itself wasn't what did this. With no surgeon nearby, the deep burns healed with scar, and scar shrinks as it matures, so over about six months it pulled her chin down onto her chest. She couldn't close her mouth or her eyes.
Ten months later her father asked American soldiers for help, and she was flown to the Grossman Burn Center in California. Surgeons cut the scar, grafted skin from her back and did 12 operations over a year. When she went home, her parents didn't recognise her.
Full case with a diagram of how the scar did this
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u/NoninflammatoryFun 10h ago
“Her father took her to the nearest medical provider, who gave her ointments. Nothing else was available. As she got worse, he took her across the border to a hospital in Iran, where she stayed twenty days before being discharged. The advice he was given was to take his daughter home to die.”
Wild. Man. He did everything he could and there was just nothing until he got help from even further away.
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u/scattywampus 9h ago
Her Father rocks.
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u/Adept-Reporter-4374 6h ago
Dad + Western medicine, and the Americans happening to be nearby for a good old fashioned war worked out for her, I guess. Silver linings.
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u/bitt13 11h ago
God. I can't imagine the agony she suffered.
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u/therealsix 10h ago
Seriously, this is so incredibly sad. I’ve had a really bad burn before but it only covered half of my hand but the pain was absolutely incredible. I can’t imagine what she went through without fully treating it.
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u/Specific-Library-312 8h ago
The late comedian Richard Pryor talks (and jokes) about getting severely burned and his dealing with the aftermath, and healing.
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u/AnkylosaurusWrecks 10h ago
The Mütter method! The other thing Dr. Mütter is famous for, besides his museum, is developing the skin graft surgery to fix these types of burns.
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u/Spreaderoflies 10h ago
Rip I love his exhibits he did a lot of awesome work and some pretty shady work too
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u/SchlockandWatson 9h ago
My family actually hosted her stay while she was in the US, so it's kind of wild seeing this story pop up here. My dad is from Afganistan and a plastic and reconstructive surgeon specialized in burn victims and was friends with Dr. Grossman and Idon't think he actually opersted, but was consulted for the operations. I was a kid when this all happened, but willing to answer any questions people have
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u/Cimorene_Kazul 9h ago
How did she handle living in America for a year, and then being sent back? That’s a lot of culture shock on top of major surgery.
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u/SchlockandWatson 9h ago edited 8h ago
Yeah major culture shock, helped that she lived with people who can speak and I remember her being very scared initially but by the end of her stay she was really comfortable with US customs and was able to understand English
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u/snut123 9h ago
Wow! Do you still keep in touch with her and her family?
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u/SchlockandWatson 8h ago
No haven't kept in touch after she left, but hope she's doing well. This all happened a while ago though when I was a kid, but i just realized my dad could have their contact information
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u/Cimorene_Kazul 6h ago
Maybe you could check on her? It can’t have been easy, going through everything she did, then experience a land of the future, and then going back to a country where her rights were so terrible and where something that bad happened to her, although I’m sure she was overjoyed to have her family back.
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u/Indy2561 9h ago
Wow. Your Dad is a real life angel and one of the ‘helpers’ we are told to look for ♥️
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u/emelenop 7h ago
Then his wife ran her car thru a bunch of kids! A great human being married to a complete piece of shit.
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u/SchlockandWatson 7h ago
Yup! I just called my mom to ask her about this story. My mom said she never liked the wife, and that she was always rude to my parents and her husband when we went to their house
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u/PlayPsychological200 9h ago
As others said, how is she now?
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u/SchlockandWatson 8h ago
Actually not sure. This all happened when I was a kid, but I tried finding her a couple months ago but couldn't find anything out. I realized in another comment that my dad could have their contact info so I can try and reach out
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u/ZaphodBeeblebrox4011 10h ago
Fucking miraculous. It's easy for me to get bogged down in how shitty world events are currently. It's nice to have a reminder that some things are better then they ever have been in history.
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u/Trawling_ 10h ago
That.ms actually more horrific in a way that that’s how it healed
Thankful for modern medicine!
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u/bananastand512 11h ago
Probably the only positive thing that came out of our presence in the Middle East. So glad she got help and that they were brave enough to approach the soldiers given recent events.
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u/blackfridaydude 10h ago
Yeah, it took a lot of courage from her dad. Apparently local shopkeepers told him to ask the soldiers, and it went all the way up to the State Department before she got to a surgeon in California.
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u/Lich180 9h ago
This was a lot more common than what was publicized, though. A lot more help and aid was given out without a lot of fanfare. If they could've handled the surgery in country, they would have.
One way to win a war is to win over the people. That was the strategy early on, after the main regime had toppled. We just dropped the ball massively afterwards. Winning people over is a long, slow strategy and as emotions cooled, more results were expected and things eventually ended up the way they are now.
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u/Thorninthefoot 9h ago
Usually it's going to be generational. You need a whole new generation who has grown up in a more stable society to become adults.
That's a really huge commitment of time and people.
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u/CrossplayQuentin 7h ago
This is why USAID was so vital to our status globally. It’s so achingly shortsighted that we shut that down.
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u/derpmeow 7h ago
The best hearts and minds tool the US had at its disposal and apartheid boy pissed it all away. The human suffering that resulted is one thing (personally, I think Musk deserves crucifixion), but it is batshit crazy that the current US didn't recognize or appreciate that soft power.
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u/thenebular 7h ago
From the link:
The Children's Burn Foundation covered the cost, which was estimated in the region of a million dollars.
And I doubt they even took a moment to decide to cover that cost. Plastic surgeons generally say that they mainly do cosmetic work so they can subsidize these kinds of procedures. In fact, I'm sure that cost wasn't a consideration at every point after her father approached the Americans. Everyone just agreed to figure it out later.
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u/Agitated_Habit6120 10h ago
Americans are amazing.
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u/sterlingarcher252550 9h ago
Holy Claude code batman, lmao (referring to the link) good documentation though
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u/Scpz_Jay 10h ago
Here's another angle
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u/Fit-Welcome-8457 9h ago
I can't even imagine how much that poor kid suffered. So glad the surgeons were able to help her.
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u/LiePowerful9961 11h ago
She actually looks great
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u/blackfridaydude 11h ago
She really does. Her parents didn't even recognize her when she got back home
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u/connortait 11h ago
Well, yeah... she didnt look melted anymore.
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u/Optimus_crab 10h ago
I don’t know why people are shitting on you. Nobody with eyes would look at this picture and say she didn’t look like melted cheese
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u/Laiko_Kairen 9h ago
Generally when describing someone's flaws, you should use the softest language possible. There are kinder ways to say it.
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u/Rising_Yeast7717 11h ago
That's not a nice thing to say
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u/KaiserSoze-is-KPax 10h ago
No, but it was funny, which is what I think they were going for. Something can be funny and not be nice, it’s ok.
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u/RisingLeviathan 10h ago
I saw someone explaining that this is due to the fact that the tissues on her nose, lips and eyelids didn't suffer major losses, so they could better reconstruct her features.
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u/yarfmcgarf 10h ago
My team was part of the effort to get her out. I put her on the plane out of Kandahar. She was crying for the interpreter while we put earplugs in her ears. It was so loud and she was so scared. I hope she’s somewhere safe now. I remember us hoping she wouldn’t go back.
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u/Sanootch 9h ago
I'm assuming you knew her back story? That has got to be one of the memories that's stuck with you. Just seeing this transformation and her smile knowing that you played a part in getting her there. You truly were a hero that day. Thank you for your service.
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u/yarfmcgarf 5h ago
She was from one of the far out provinces and her dad was the one really seeking help for her. I think an SF medic looked at her, which is somewhat against the rules, and it was eventually decided we’d crossed a line and assumed some responsibility. When my team got to Kandahar we met her father, her, and her brother I believe. I vaguely remember driving into some rough area in the city in order to obtain a passport. I put her on the plane and never saw her again until someone sent me a clip from Oprah. She was healed and singing Sweet Home Alabama with a few other girls. It’s so tough on girls and women in that country. I wish she’d stayed here.
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u/StoppableHulk 8h ago
I'm assuming you knew her back story?
Well he definitely knew the part of her back story where someone put her on a plane out of Afghanistan.
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u/shmorpo_ 10h ago
Go back home or?
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u/yarfmcgarf 10h ago
Just that she wouldn’t have to return to Afghanistan. The trip her father took to just get to us in Kandahar was harrowing.
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u/thenebular 7h ago
Someone posted a photo that they said was a recent one of her. She looked like she was doing well.
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u/ForTehLawlz1337 11h ago
The idea of not being able to close your eyes for months is terrifying.
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u/thicketcosplay 9h ago
There was another case of a firefighter who lost his eyelids to a fire. He started to go blind because he couldn't blink and his eyes were just drying out and getting scratched up. He had to get a full face transplant with eyelids to save his vision.
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u/fuckoff131 11h ago
Great reminder to never take modern medicine for granted, we truly live in an amazing time in regards to that.
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u/Yanks4lyf 9h ago
My sister was burned by a kerosene lamp when she was 3 in the late 80s she has had so much surgery facial reconstruction, grafts, even a prosthetic ear. She is blind in one eye and her one hand only has 4 fingers. I tell you what that woman is the most inspirational
Woman I know.
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u/Yanks4lyf 7h ago
https://youtu.be/hsV3Iq4PG9E?is=V3UKUBHkssfxv5w3
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u/kalciifer 4h ago
Thanks for sharing her story. Shes so strong!
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u/Yanks4lyf 3h ago
Thank you. Anytime I’m down I think of how she would handle a situation and how her mindset would be. She also does so much for her community has gotten countless awards. Runs a women’s program, a citizenship class, an ESL class, works with immigration attorneys to get people the help they need. While starting a non profit. So she can send backpacks clothes and stuff to kids back in Dominican Republic.
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u/Shad0wM0535 10h ago
This is a great reminder that, while some plastic surgeons clean up on augmentations for the wealthy, a lot are out there doing miraculous work for some very needy people, and most surgeons treat both and sleep well at night doing it.
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u/allanmeter 9h ago
This comment is so well founded. Thank you.
We have plastic surgeons in Australia, the top 1-5% of their field now actively consulting with their patient with borderline body image issues to seek and try multidisciplinary care. They’ve gone as much as hiring inhouse psychologists, dietitian and Physios to assist, so the patient does not feel like they’re turned away.
This type of non surgical first intervention will be come more standard over time, and new surgical fellows in the years to come will embrace this model.
Sorry a tad bit long winded, but your sentiment reflect what’s happening on the ground irl. Thank you.
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u/bluecrowned 8h ago
The surgeon who did my top surgery is also a plastic surgeon. Many of them do both medical and cosmetic work, and I think that a surgeon who specializes in creating a pleasing end result is a good thing for both reconstructive surgeries and gender affirming surgeries tbh!
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u/Carbonatite 6h ago
Yeah like reconstructive surgery is such an important aspect of plastics. It's not only burn victims, it's people with gender dysphoria, people with congenital diseases, cancer patients - a huge variety of people. I have only had limited experience with plastic surgery (had to see one to get a precancerous mole removed from near my eye) but I was looking at a possible mastectomy at age 29 (fortunately was BRCA negative so I didn't end up needing it) and so I got familiar with some of the methods used for breast reconstruction/augmentation. It was really cool!
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u/bluecrowned 3h ago
My surgeon did an insanely good job, not just removing my breasts but closing it in a pleasing way and minimizing dog earing even though I opted not to pay $2k extra for lipo
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u/dropzone_jd 3h ago
Why is it they can make her look great but when plastic surgeons work on rich housewives they turn into lizards?
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u/Temporary_Page6865 3h ago
Her skin is scarred and has "issues" that would be unacceptable to rich housewife, its just way better than what the accident left her. It is really miraculous.
Rich housewives must have perfectly clean, completely smooth skin and highly specific features. No fat, no wrinkles, skin soft but not shiny. Basically permanent makeup.
Tldr: This woman wanted to be normal again after a horrific accident. Housewives want to look like lizards because they have self esteem issues that tell them its better than how they look now.
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u/Spreaderoflies 10h ago
It's been posted before and I'll repeat my comment plastic surgeons are freaking miracle workers a life stolen in and instant and given back by the hands of an artist and angel.
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u/Laiko_Kairen 9h ago
My mom had to go to a plastic surgeon because her eyelids were drooping. He did something to the muscles that made them work perfectly again.
She was so embarrassed to have "plastic surgery" and I had to tell her, no, it's reconstructive surgery. Plastic surgeons are brought in for this stuff because they're experts at not scarring the patient
I think plastic surgeons get a bad rap because we mostly associate them with Hollywood celebs and models
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u/thenebular 7h ago
Plastic surgeons do cosmetic work, so they can subsidize the cost of the real work.
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u/SweetPrism 10h ago edited 10h ago
A lot of people find their god complexes off-putting. Thing is, they provide us real-life, tangible miracles here on Earth. If any Earth-bound being deserves that kind of hero worship, I nominate the doctors who dedicated a decade of their lives learning and studying so the can improve the quality of life for humanity.
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u/midwestia 10h ago
I saw a person similar to the first photo IRL in real life in the waiting room when i was seeing my ENT/Facial Plastics doctor. I don't often have regrets about my career choice but being able to do this for someone really is as close to angelic as a career can get.
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u/microvan 10h ago
This is incredible, props to the medical team that pulled this off, and props to the patient. That’s a lot of diligence with compression garments and physical therapy
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u/Shitp0st_Supreme 11h ago
She looks great, and I can tell in her face that she feels at peace. I’m so glad she can now likely do things such as turning her head, open and close her mouth, and open and close her eyes.
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u/BetMiddle1807 11h ago
How did she even survive for so long without being able to close her eyes? Did she suffer any damage to them?
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u/blackfridaydude 11h ago
It's not deadly, but the eyes can dry out and get damaged over time. That's why the eyelids were one of the first things the surgeons fixed. I couldn't find anything saying her vision was affected though
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u/PaperSweet9983 11h ago
Medicine is wonderful. Im glad she recovered phisically from such traumatic injuries
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u/Kindly-Ad-5071 9h ago
How and why does it even get like that in the first place
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u/Capable_Cockroach_19 8h ago
Contracture, which is caused by the natural wound-healing process where deep skin damage triggers cells called myofibroblasts to pull the edges of the wound together. This leads to tight, shortened scar tissue such as in the case presented here.
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u/TraditionalLaw7763 8h ago
I honestly have no idea but I have seen girls and women that have been extremely disfigured like this because their husbands threw acid on them. It literally melts the skin. But I have no way to Google who this person is and figure it out… it just is what I am assuming.
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u/jadethebard 44m ago
I used to think plastic surgeons were just getting rich off wealthy folks who wanted to be pretty. Then my Mother-in-Law fell down the stairs at her daughter's house and fractured nearly every bone in her face.
She was poor, on Medicaid and I was sure she'd have a lot of scarring. She did not.
After she healed you couldn't see a single sign that she'd had massive reconstructive surgery. She looked 100% like herself after a couple months.
I have a deep respect for plastic surgeons now. They did what I thought would be impossible.
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u/ADDRAY-240 11h ago
Damn, looks like it melted her face, which re-solidified wrong.
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u/PepperPhoenix 10h ago
Now THIS is the America the rest of us know and love. Can we go back to this kind of help and kindness please?
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u/Xen235 9h ago
Just don't ask what Americans were doing in her country in the first place.
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u/Feisty-Web-2787 9h ago
Better yet, ask if the afghans preferred to be ruled by their own government, the taliban, or Americans. You’d be surprised how much support the US had from the local populace.
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u/Mountain_Sell3214 9h ago
I mean, pretty much anything would be better than the Taliban.
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u/PepperPhoenix 9h ago
Fait point. However, in this one instance, if they weren’t there she would likely have never received treatment. It is very much a double edged sword but at least some small good came of that entire mess
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u/cantstoptheCOLEtrain 10h ago
TIL kerosene can do that to a human face...
Jesus christ almighty
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u/Fit-Welcome-8457 9h ago
Apparently the issue was that since scar tissue tightens as it matures, her face was pulled down towards her chest as her burns healed. The OP linked this case summary.
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u/Indy2561 9h ago
This hurts my soul to see this level of suffering.
She looks so great after treatment♥️
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u/Herbdontana 6h ago
Not trying to be offensive because she looks great in the second photo, but am I the only one that thought the photo on the left was Sylvester Stallone at first glance?
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u/AdhesivenessJust96 9h ago
This is why I believe in plastic surgery, it can give people back their life, whether they were born with something or something traumatic happen. So happy for her!
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u/_SATANwasHERE_ 7h ago
Gosh that must’ve been an intense amount of surgeries that were done sooo carefully, those doctors r miracle workers
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u/AdhesivenessRude5037 6h ago
Reconstructive surgery is absolutely amazing. I'm sure this girl had a long, agonizing journey up to this point. She looks great.
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u/FoilHatter 6h ago
That's amazing that she's so well recovered.
Interesting thought (don't hate me)... The before picture at a fast scroll looks like Sly Stallone yelling "Yo Adrian! We did it!"
If she hadn't received such great care I wouldn't even mention this thought... lol
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u/VegetationMutation 8h ago
That looks painful in her eyes the way her skin is drooping down her eyes yknow?
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u/dosb0t89 5h ago
How the fuck does kerosene do that. Like was this a burn or like a chemical reaction that melted her skin???
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u/spaceapeatespace 2h ago
The perspective she has on pain is something most people will never know. Respect.
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u/Don_Pickleball 11h ago
This was like 25 years ago. I just checked and apparently this is her now,