Nikita Cummings, now 20, suffered third degree burns to 80 per cent of her body after her night dress caught alight.
A woman who was so badly burnt as a nine-year-old she told her father, “I want to die” fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a mother.
Nikita Cummings, now 20, suffered third degree burns to 80 per cent of her body after her night dress caught alight.
She nearly died but thanks to the skills of doctors survived – but on seeing her reflection said she wished she was dead.
Growing up she thought her dream of becoming a mother would never happen, but she now has 17 month-old Carsyn.
Miss Cummings, of Greenock, Scotland, said: “I thought it was something that would never happen to me but Carsyn has given me a new lease of life.
“I feel like the luckiest mum in the world.”
She recalled in July 2004 lighting a stray thread on her nightdress, which led to her whole body going up in flames.
She said: “We were meant to be going on a family camping trip that day and I'd woken up really excited before anyone else.
“I spotted the lighter on the coffee table in the lounge and just lit it to burn off the thread.
“The next thing I was surrounded by flames and I started screaming.”
Her parents, Anne and John, called an ambulance and she was rushed to Inverclyde Royal Hospital.
From there she was transferred to the burns unit at Yorkhill Hospital, Glasgow, and put in a medical coma for seven weeks to let her injuries heal.
She said: “I had no idea where I was.
“Mum and dad told me surgeons had taken skin grafts from my right leg to repair my face, neck, upper body, left arm, left leg and tummy.
“The skin on my left hand had melted through to the bone and doctors had warned them I could lose my finger, but they managed to save it.”
It was three months before Miss Cummings found the courage to look in a mirror.
She said: “I told my dad I wanted to die.
“It was so red and raw.
"I felt horrible.”
When she left hospital she had to become used to the stares of strangers.
“Thankfully, when I went back to school, I didn't get teased but I still hated my reflection,” she said.
“My life had changed forever.
"I wore pressure garments under my clothes for two years and a face mask and gloves to protect my skin.
“Once the garments came off, my skin did look smoother but without them, my scars were more visible.
“I couldn’t bear the other girls staring at me so I changed for PE in a different room.
“My best friends didn’t treat me any differently, but that didn’t change how I felt about myself.
“It took me four years to feel brave enough to go out shopping with them.”
The idea of having a boyfriend, let alone a baby seemed a distant dream.
“It wasn't something I'd ever thought would happen,” Miss Cummings said.
She began a college course in nursing but after a chance encounter she discovered she had missed a period.
“It was massive,” Miss Cummings said.
“I was living in my own flat but my mum helped.
"She's been amazing.”
Miss Cummings's pregnancy was closely monitored due to the scarring on her stomach.
She was induced a week before her due date as her skin would not stretch any further.
She said: “Before, I used to be down in the dumps a lot but Carsyn has made me realise what life is all about.
“He doesn't see my scars and I am bringing him up not to stare at people like some children do.
“All is he sees when he looks at me is his mummy who loves him.
“I see a miracle I never thought I'd get.
"I feel blessed.”
