Two young brothers were burned on their faces, hands, and chests in a tragic accident caused by a campfire explosion.
Last Friday, while at home in Lansfield, Victoria, Australia, Xander, 3, and Tanner, 1, were playing together.
The children had been instructed to behave responsibly around fire, but a cardboard box was thrown onto the flames without being checked for contents.
Inside was a full aerosol can, which burst and knocked the mother and sons off their feet.
Carli Mathiesen, the aunt of the two brothers, said: ‘The boys since suffering the injuries have undergone multiple surgeries but Xander has suffered even more serious injuries than this brother.
‘Xander is going to need grafting to his face and while he is stable at the moment we are expecting him to be knocked out again very soon because the pain and shock to his body and system is so significant that he is in so much pain.
‘Tanner also has similar injuries but not to the same extent. He has first to second degree-burns on his upper body and face and both of the children will need more grafting.’
After the horrifying incident the boys were airlifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Tanner was admitted to receive treatment, while Xander was immediately put on a ventilator and sent to intensive care.
Skin grafts will be required on the children’s faces and hands, with healthy skin removed from their thighs to cover their injuries and attempt to mend the skin.
Today is Xander’s third birthday, and medics are getting ready to wake him up for the first time since the accident.
Carli described her heart as “broken” as a result of what happened.
She said: ‘They are such beautiful country kids who love the outdoors and all things nature and animals.
‘My heart breaks for them and I know that they are at least a month or two away from being able to go home.’
She has set up a fundraiser to raise money for the family to help with the extra costs they now face, including for medication, treatment and therapy.
‘The parents are doing okay but are just in such a state of shock and crisis mode. All of us are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of community support but the financial stress we are now under is immense,’ Carli added.
‘There will be a long road ahead especially for the boys’ mental and physical rehabilitation.
‘At the moment the parents need to be with their children which means the dad is unable to earn money so we really need the community’s support.
‘The boys will need so much financial support to pay for things such as speech pathology and compression stockings for their grafts on the face, it will be very expensive.’
She said the boys will need help learning to become ‘resilient’ before they start school with visible injuries on their faces.
‘Children can be cruel and the oldest one Xander is only a couple of years away from starting school so it is important that the family are resilient and show him how he can be resilient as well,’ she added.