Miracle teen survives 98% burns

Almost 100 per cent of his skin was destroyed in an accident and the odds were heavily against him. Doctors said his condition was “incompatible with life”. But young Jasur Khamdamov from St Petersburg proved them wrong. Using his inner streng

The accident happened at the family dacha in the Leningrad Region a year ago. Jasur was relaxing in the sauna, built by his uncle, when the gas boiler exploded.    

Jasur’s uncle remembers the aftermath.

“His skin was hanging in torn pieces from his body, his face all burnt. He was shouting, screaming. Then he said, 'Uncle, I am so ugly – I will never make it to university now',” Jasur’s uncle said.

The young man suffered third degree burns, with 98% of his skin affected. Head of the Burns Unit in St Petersburg Marina Brazol said he had little chance of surviving.

A photo before the ordeal

And the walking miracle continues to impress doctors.

Braveheart

A year after the accident, burns victim Jasur is only just beginning to accept his appearance. He's learning to use his hands again, but it's his facial disfigurement which has caused psychological and social trauma.

“After four months, I grew very weak. I began to think I would die and that all my efforts were in vain. Sometimes I wanted to give up. But now I've pulled myself together. Although it's hard to see people's reaction to my face – when they pass by and stare back at me”, Jasur said.

For months he couldn't bear even to glance in the mirror. But with the encouragement and support of his friends and family, he's overcome the fear.

His father Nodirbek Khamdamov says the name Jasur is Islamic for 'brave, courageous'. Ever since the accident, Jasur has truly lived up to it.

“At first his face was all swollen, three times its normal size. His eyelids were sewn together so his eyeballs wouldn't dry up. When the stitches were removed he was disorientated. Tears were running down his face,” the boy’s father recalls.

He remembers doctors saying he wouldn't survive more than ten days. “But I knew he would live because in his heart he's strong,” he added.

Making new skin

As Jasur attends his weekly checkup, he's told he'll eventually have plastic surgery. But he needs further skin transplants first.

Much of his skin was so badly burnt, the lower 'derma' layer was damaged beyond repair. So at the Cell Research Laboratory in St Petersburg scientists have offered their help.

Using frozen skin cells from cosmetic clinics, they're making Jasur some new 'derma'.

Laboratory cultivation of skin cells can improve the prognosis for patients with third-degree burns. Jasur doesn't have enough healthy skin for doctors to use skin grafts alone, so technicians are producing a special kind of gel full of fibroblasts, which are the proteins that create connective tissue.

When the collagen gel is applied to the skin, the cells spread and join up, creating a protective layer which gives the skin its structure and elasticity.

This will give Jasur a new quality of life, so he can go on to fulfil his dreams and attend university. His story is one of remarkable resilience. Jasur is no longer a victim. He's a survivor.