Burned boy faces 10 years behind his mask

Burned boy faces 10 years behind his mask

Wang Gengxiang, who wears a mask to prevent his facial burns from getting infected, plays with his puppy and Ultraman doll. Image source: Yan Yan/China Daily























A boy in Beijing who suffered severe burns to his face and hands may have to spend the next 10 years or more in a full surgical mask, said his parents on Thursday.Wang Gengxiang, 5, was badly hurt when he fell into a pile of burning straw in a courtyard at his hometown in Fenyang, Shanxi province. He lost most of the skin on his head, as well as his fingertips.Pictures released of him playing with his puppy while wearing his gray-white elastic headgear, which prevents his scars from becoming infected, touched hearts nationwide.However, doctors this week revealed they cannot continue his skin-graft surgery until his damaged trachea, or windpipe, is strong enough - which could take more than a decade."We have to wait until his trachea is larger, maybe when he's 14 or 19. It depends on his situation," said Shen Chuan'an, deputy director of the burns unit at the First Affiliated Hospital of the People's Liberation Army General Hospital, where Wang - nicknamed Xiangxiang - is receiving treatment.Along with the financial burden facing the family, the boy's parents are concerned what effect the boy's condition - and mask - will have on his development.Wang Shouwu, Xiangxiang's father, said many children in the village have refused to play with his son since the accident last November because of the way he looks."His friends are afraid of him now. I had to buy snacks for them to play with him," he said, explaining that Xiangxiang spends most time with his 3-year-old brother and puppy.Source: China Daily/ANN
Published July 12 2011