Kim Phuc was abused during the Vietnam war in 1972.
She saw fire around her everywhere from bombs that had gone off, there was fire all over her body and her clothes had been burnt off. She was only nine years old at the time. She thought from that point that she would be ugly and that everyone would look at her in a different way. After a soldier gave her some drink and covered her body in water she lost consciousness. She then spent 14 months in hospital and had to go through 17 operations. When she left the hospital she was devastated as her home had been destroyed, her and her family lost everything and survived day by day. Although she suffered much pain, her hospital stay encouraged her to become a doctor but he dream was cut short by the government who wanted her to become a symbol of the state, she never returned to school after her experience. She hated her life because of it and wished she was dead many times. She spent most her time in the library reading religious to find a purpose in her life, mainly the Holy Bible. Around Christmas in 1982 Kim excepted Jesus as her saviour. It was an amazing turning point in her life. God had helped her to forgive- which was the most difficult lesson. It didn’t chance her thoughts and feelings in just a day and it surely wasn’t easy but it helped her to forgot the hatred. She still has many scars and is in severe pain most days, but her heart is cleansed.