14-Year-Old Girl Burns 79% of Her Body Trying to Save Her Father From a Burning House

The unfortunate incident occurred on Saturday at the family’s abode in Chongqing, The Straits Times reported.

Ms. Lai Rongqing, Jiajia’s mother, claimed that the fire started around 3:00 a.m. when lights and electrical appliances exploded in their living room. She rushed to wake her mother, husband and daughter up and prompted them to flee.

Ms. Lai went downstairs to turn off the main controls. “When I left, my husband was putting on his pants, my daughter and mother had already woken up. My daughter’s room was nearest to the main door.”

Ms. Lai saw her daughter on the main door before alerting their neighbors about the disaster. However, to her horror, Jiajia was nowhere to be found when she came back.

An unconscious Jiajia was later found lying on the floor facing a bedroom. Mr. Guo, her father, rushed to save her. Ms. Lai then splashed her daughter with water and asked, “You came out already, why did you go back in?”

The 14-year-old, now conscious, replied, “I went in to look for dad, but I didn’t find him.” Jiajia may have looked for her father knowing that the latter became less mobile after a traffic accident in 2010.

According to Dr. Zhang Xiaohong, Jiajia suffered burns to 79% of her body. Worse, both her hands will likely be amputated.

Dr. Zhang explained, “There is a high chance that her hands have to be amputated. She would also need to undergo more operations in time to come, and the entire treatment is likely to cost more than one million yuan ($137,492).”

Authorities have started investigating the cause of the fire. Donations are underway, with over 205,000 yuan ($28,185) secured by Monday.