Courage of
AN 11-YEAR-OLD girl left scarred for life when an aerosol can exploded in her face is to receive a prestigious award after campaigning to help other children with facial scarring.
Emily Owen was standing near a fire at a neighbour’s allotment when an aerosol left in the flames exploded.
It left her requiring extensive surgery and initially she was so distressed that her parents decided to remove all mirrors from their home.
But fewer than three years later Emily has regained her confidence and is inspiring other young people to overcome similar disfigurements.
She has been appointed a campaigner for the charity Changing Faces and even launched her own YouTube site which has become a haven for other girls like her.
Her bravery has now been rewarded with a Child of Courage badge which she will receive next week at the Pride of the North East Awards, a regional stage of the Pride of Britain Awards.
Emily, of Shildon, County Durham, said: “I’m so excited. I could not believe it when I found out. I thought it was a prank.
“The ceremony will be amazing but I admit I’m a bit worried I’m going to drop the award.
“I want to use the opportunity to tell people to be positive and believe in themselves because I had to learn how to do that again.
“I’ve overcome a lot and realised that the world would be very boring if we were all the same. It’s good to be different.”
Her mother Nicola, 37, said: “Her injuries were so gruesome that her father didn’t recognise her in hospital and her cuts were so deep you could see her skull.” Doctors said it was a miracle that Emily avoided brain damage and she was able to return to school after just one month.
And incredibly the process inspired Emily to want to train to be a plastic surgeon herself.
Nicola added: “She suffered from terrible anxiety and nightmares and would by frightened by things like the sound of a bottle of fizzy drink opening or anything that produces heat like an iron.
“But she has progressed hugely and although she might never fully come to terms with what happened to her she is learning to live with it.”
Emily used writing and therapy as a way of beating anxiety and night terrors. She says she wants to “encourage others to talk about their issues”.
Her first charity effort saw her persuade her school to hold a sponsored face-painting session.
That triggered a fund-raising push