Shrewsbury mum backs £1.5m appeal after daughter suffered severe burns

A Shrewsbury mum is supporting a £1.5 million appeal to transform Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s Burns Centre after her daughter received life-saving treatment there following a serious accident at home.

Sian Lacey is backing Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity’s Burns Centre Appeal after her daughter Sofia suffered severe burns when she was two years old.

Sofia was sitting on a kitchen stool when she slipped as her dad was moving a hot pan away from the cooker. She knocked the pan as she fell, suffering scalds from her right shoulder down to her knuckles.

Her parents, Sian and Scott, rushed her to their local hospital before she was transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for specialist treatment.

Sofia spent 15 days in the hospital’s Burns Centre, where she underwent several operations, including skin grafts and wound cleaning. She also needed two blood transfusions after showing signs of sepsis or toxic shock.

Now nine, Sofia has made a strong recovery but continues to receive treatment at the centre, including occupational therapy and laser treatment to help maintain movement in her arm and reduce scarring.

Her mum is now supporting the charity’s £1.5 million appeal to modernise the centre’s inpatient and outpatient facilities, which have not been updated since it opened in 2007.

The centre treats about 850 patients each year and is one of only five specialist paediatric burns centres in the country, caring for some of the most severely injured children from across the UK and beyond.

Plans for the improvements include a new high-dependency bed for the most seriously ill patients, refurbished private rooms for children at greater risk of infection and a dedicated room for laser treatment.

The ward’s playroom will also be updated to provide different areas for children of different ages, therapy sessions and families.

The outpatient area, which treats children with minor injuries and those returning for follow-up appointments, will also be revamped, with a new reception area designed to be more welcoming and child-friendly.

Sian said: “We were utterly distraught about Sofia’s accident, but the staff continually tried to help us and calm us. They were all amazing.

“We couldn’t fault the care, but the environment felt quite clinical, like a typical hospital ward. It would be better if it could feel a little more friendly and colourful. That would be less daunting when you and your child are having such a hard time.

“The Burns Centre has an amazing team, and they deserve the best clinical areas possible, so they can keep delivering incredible treatment.”

Matt Boazman, chief executive of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our world-renowned Burns Centre cares for children and young people with some of the most complex and challenging burns from across the UK and often becomes a second home for families needing ongoing care and treatment.

“We know that by creating a healing environment we will be helping to improve the physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing for all of the children and young people we care for, creating a space which fully supports them in their recovery.”

For further information about the Burns Centre Appeal or to donate, visit bch.org.uk/burns-centre-appeal.