Zubaida Hasan: Burned Afghan Girl Rebuilt by Surgeon Peter Grossman

Zubaida Hasan was nine years old when she was terribly burned in a kerosene fire in rural Afghanistan in 2001. With help from American soldiers she was flown to Los Angeles, where burn surgeon Dr Peter Grossman rebuilt her face and neck over a long series of operations. During her treatment Grossman and his wife, Rebecca, took her into their own home, and when she was well enough, the surgeon flew back with her to Afghanistan to return her to her parents.

Their story was filmed, turned into a book called Tiny Dancer, and has circulated online for years. Below is what happened, what her treatment involved, and why this case still matters for anyone who cares about burn injuries in children.

The accident in Afghanistan

Zubaida lived with her family in a remote desert region of Afghanistan. In the summer of 2001, while heating water for a bath, she fell into a kerosene fire. The flames severely burned her face, neck, chest and arm.

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As her wounds healed without specialist care, thick scar tissue formed and tightened. This is called a burn contracture. In Zubaida's case it pulled her lower face down towards her chest, so she could not close her mouth or eyes properly. Eating, sleeping and even turning her head were painful.

Her parents took her to every hospital they could reach, but local doctors had neither the equipment nor the specialists to help. Her father refused to give up.

How she reached a surgeon in Los Angeles

According to the book by Anthony Flacco, an American Green Beret saw Zubaida and her father on the street and decided to get involved. Members of the US military helped arrange her transfer, and in 2002 she and her father flew to Los Angeles.

There they met Dr Peter Grossman, a plastic surgeon at the Grossman Burn Center, a burn and reconstruction centre that has operated since 1969 and treats patients from around the world. Even for a team used to severe injuries, her case was one of the most difficult they had seen.

You tube/Grossman BurnCenter

Rebuilding a face, operation by operation

Reconstructing a face after deep burns is slow work. Surgeons first release the tight scar so the jaw, neck and eyelids can move, then cover the exposed areas with healthy skin taken from elsewhere on the body. Each graft must heal before the next step, which is why such treatment is measured in many months.

Grossman's team took skin grafts from Zubaida's back and used them across a series of operations to cover her neck and lower face. The original estimate for her treatment was around three years. Accounts differ on how long it finally took: the online version of the story says about a year, while the book describes roughly two years of surgery. Either way, it went faster than expected.

You tube/Grossman BurnCenter

The photos from her treatment show the change step by step: first the scar released, then her chin and neck separated, and finally a child's face that could smile, eat and close its eyes again.

You tube/Grossman BurnCenter

Living with the Grossmans

When her father had to go back to Afghanistan, there was a problem: Zubaida still needed more surgery and someone to care for her between operations. Peter and Rebecca Grossman, who had no children of their own at the time, offered to take her in.

She settled in quickly. The girl who arrived unable to close her mouth turned out to be lively and funny, and she loved to dance, which later gave the book its title. She went to a local school, reportedly picked up English in about 12 weeks, made friends and began calling her hosts Mom and Dad. One of her birthdays, her 11th, fell on the same day as her 10th operation.

You tube/Grossman BurnCenter

Fostering a patient is far beyond what any surgeon is expected to do. It also helped her recovery: a child who feels safe, eats well and sleeps properly heals better and copes better with repeated surgery.

You tube/Grossman BurnCenter

Going home

When the main stage of treatment was done, Grossman flew with Zubaida to Afghanistan himself. Video of the reunion shows her parents and relatives hardly able to take in how much she had changed. The father who had once carried her from hospital to hospital could finally hold a daughter who was no longer in pain.

You tube/Grossman BurnCenter
You tube/Grossman BurnCenter

The goodbye was hard for the Grossmans too. Grossman reportedly joked that if he ever heard she had married at 13, he would come back and give her a kick in the backside, a joke with a serious edge in a region where early marriage is common.

You tube/Grossman BurnCenter

Watch Zubaida's story:

Why burns in children are still a global problem

Zubaida was lucky to reach specialist care. Many children do not. The World Health Organization estimates that about 163,000 people died from fire, heat and hot substances in 2023, and around 22% of them were children under 15. Open cooking fires, unstable stoves and unsafe fuels are major risks, especially in homes that cook or heat over a flame.

Two practical points from the WHO are worth knowing for any family:

• First aid: cool a burn promptly under cool running water, ideally for about 20 minutes for smaller burns, and keep the rest of the person warm. Do not use ice, butter, oil or toothpaste.
• When to get help: seek urgent care for large or deep burns, electrical or chemical burns, and any burn to the face, hands, feet or genitals. Talk to a doctor about any burn on a young child.

Good early care reduces scarring and the kind of contractures that left Zubaida unable to close her eyes. Safer stoves, guards around fires and keeping children away from fuel save even more.

What her story shows

Zubaida's recovery depended on a long chain of people: a father who kept asking, soldiers who made calls, a team of surgeons and nurses, and a couple willing to open their home to a child they had never met. Medicine fixed the scars; kindness made the treatment possible.

It is also a reminder that the best doctors treat the person, not just the injury. Grossman's choice to care for her at home, and to take her back to her family himself, is why this story is still being shared years later.

Sources: Anthony Flacco, Tiny Dancer: The Incredible True Story of a Young Burn Victim's Journey from Afghanistan; Grossman Burn Centers; World Health Organization, Burns fact sheet; video and photos: Grossman Burn Center on YouTube; story first shared by Hefty via Amazing Oasis.