Too Close to the Fire

Every day, Sharif struggled to do the simplest tasks, like picking up a book. Two years ago, he was a regular kid who loved to play ball. Then one day, he was playing inside close to a candle, and everything changed.

"He touched the candle for just a second," his father told us. "Before he knew what was happening, his shirt caught on fire."

Sharif was probably wearing a very cheap, shirt made from cheap materials, somewhere in the far east. These shirts are made from a very flammable, plastic based material. All he did was touch his shirt to the flame and in a matter of seconds, his chest, arms, and neck were engulfed, as the shirt melted into his skin.

"When I saw him, his burns were so bad I did not think he would survive," said his father. "Nobody did. I had to take him from hospital to hospital just to find someone who would treat him."

After four months in the hospital, Sharif went back home with scars so thick and hard he could barely turn or even lift his head.

"It is so painful watching my son suffer," his father said, with tears in his eyes. "I don't want to think about it or remember what happened any more."

When CBN found out about Sharif's condition, we offered to pay for a major corrective surgery that would loosen up all the tight scars. In no time at all, Sharif was back outside playing with his brother and just being a regular kid again. A few months after the surgery, we visited Sharif to see how he was doing. We were thrilled to see that he could move his head and neck and had a full range of motion with no pain at all. As we played some games with him, it was great to finally see him smile.

"We are so thankful," his dad told us. "Someone out in the world reached out to help us. When CBN came into our lives, you didn't know us, but you helped my son. God bless you!"