After undergoing 17 surgeries in the United States of America, 13-year-old Westmoreland burn victim Adrianna Laing has been put on a track that will give her the chance of pursuing her dreams and living a good quality life when she returns to Jamaica in early 2023.

Plastic surgeon Dr Zaheen Hassan, president of the Joseph M Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia, United States, where Laing is admitted, told journalists on Tuesday, that the teen is a fighter and a happy child who is unlikely to face psychological problems when she fully recovers. Dr Hassan thanked everybody who played a role in saving Laing’s life, especially because her condition was a difficult one.

“Only the future will tell how it will affect her psychologically. Some people with burn injuries do very well. They don’t have any psychological problems at all. Some people have post-traumatic stress disorder and have to be treated by a psychiatrist but so far, Adrianna doesn’t show any signs of that. She is a fighter, a happy child and I don’t think she is going to have that much psychological problems. As she grows you have to understand that her chest is burned and her entire front is burnt.

“My team thanks you all for the support. I thank God for giving us the ability to help patients like her. I asked Adrianna if she has anything to say to all the people, she said she loves everybody and thanks everybody and wants everybody in Jamaica and here in the US to help her daddy so that she can go home and have a good life. The message to you all is that Adrianna will need help and her daddy needs help,” Hassan said.

Laing was badly burnt on September 4 when her house in Westmoreland caught fire. Her three younger brothers, eight-year-old Adriano Laing and twin brothers Jorden and Jayden Laing, perished in the blaze.

Said Dr Hassan: “Fifty-six per cent of her to surface body area was burned. I don’t want to go through details but Adrianna went through about 17 surgeries, including skin graphing. We did everything to save her life through God. Adrianna lost her left leg, below the knee and some fingers on the right hand, but Adrianna is going to be fully functional because she has the thumb and the index finger. She is young, so even with the prosthesis of the left leg, she should be walking and running in no time. I am not saying she is going to be running like Usain Bolt, but she is going to be running. In the future is she is going to need some… reconstructive surgery. Probably she is going to [also] need a small skin graph to the left upper eye lid.”

The teen’s father, Adrian Laing, who celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, expressed gratitude to the outpouring of support which his daughter received and was especially grateful to the Sanmerna Foundation’s Project Manager Stephen Josephs as well as directors Mark and Robert White for leading the charge.

“I must say thanks to the Most High to bring me here to be with my daughter, the only survivor of the ordeal. I say thanks to Dr Hassan and his team, the Sanmerna Foundation and all the people from across the world. When I got the chance to see my daughter, it was breathtaking. It was tremendous. I was speechless. I couldn’t believe. It was just a miracle. When I spoke to her she said, ‘Daddy, if you are okay, I am okay’. That set me at ease. It is not easy, but I am holding on. She just wants to get up and walk but there is a process. She said, ‘Daddy, I am going to be out here by next month and I am going to rehab’. She is just excited. She planned my birthday party today [Tuesday] around by her room.”