Tran Thi Kim Phuc, known as the "Napalm Girl," whose image became a symbol of the horrors of the Vietnam War, has completed her final round of skin treatment with a burn specialist, 50 years after her village was struck by incendiary materials. A photograph of Phuc, taken when she was 9 years old, shows her running naked and screaming in pain after a plane dropped napalm on her village in June 1972. Following the traumatic incident, Phuc spent over a year in the hospital recovering from her injuries, living with constant pain and limited mobility.
The American station NBC reported that she underwent her twelfth and final laser treatment this week at the Miami Institute for Dermatology and Laser in the United States. In Miami, Phuc also met Nick Ut, the photographer who captured the moment of her injury and highlighted the tragedies of the Vietnam War, earning a Pulitzer Prize for the photograph. Phuc expressed her hope that “everyone can live with love, hope, and tolerance, and if that happens, we don't need wars at all.”
She confirmed that she "hates her famous photo," feeling "ugly and ashamed" for being naked, as the napalm destroyed her clothes and skin. In the years following the attack, she was on the verge of suicide because she "endured severe psychological trauma and physical pain," as she stated. The Vietnamese woman moved to Canada in the 1990s and established the "Kim Foundation International," which provides medical assistance, including psychological support, to children affected by wars.
In an interview with American channel CBC last June, she said, "I am no longer a war victim. I am a survivor. I feel as though 50 years ago I was a victim, but now I am a friend, a helper, a mother, a grandmother, and a survivor calling for peace."
