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When Terri Calvesbert was only 18 months old, she was a victim of a fire at her home. She made it out alive but suffered 90 percent burns.
Her life would never be the same. Years later, she wants to start a family of her own and is getting married. Here is what she looks like now.
Her mother Julie left a cigarette by Terri’s cot and that immediately caught fire. Flames were like a sea, but firefighters saved her.
When the firefighter found her, he thought she was a plastic doll, because he had never seen anybody with extreme burns to that degree.
She was rushed to the hospital where a small chance of survival was given. Her mother recalls the accident and says: ‘I never smoked in that flat, but one night I did and I don’t know why.’
When I came back, I saw everything on fire, I just panicked and dialed 911. I ran into the kitchen and got a bowl of water to throw into the bedroom, but it made no difference. People say to me why I shouldn’t enter there and got her, but I panicked.
Terri required more than 40 skin grafts. Her mother left because she was wracked with guilt over the incident. She was separated from Terri’s father months earlier.
So Terri’s father, Paul was left alone to take care of his daughter. His support was crucial as she grew up.
He sleeps on a bed next to mine, looks after me, and calms me down, says Terry. She became one of the rare people who survived this kind of burn.
She had gone through more than 60 operations. The fire left her with no hair, no nose, no fingers, and just one foot.
They had to put on a new skin to her and do a lot of operations on my face.
Her mother left the family when Terri was in the hospital and didn’t speak to her for more than ten years.
She called my dad and told him she wanted to see me, and now I see her once in a few weeks, Terri said.
Her dad didn’t want to stop Terri from seeing her mum. Her foundation was established to meet the funds for the operations and raised more than $600,000.
She met her husband Richard Holmes over Facebook and they fell in love. She studied animal care and fell pregnant. Now they have a five year old daughter.
