Celina Davis, Taneytown, MD

“It was the day, I’ll never forget,” says Celina’s mother, Lisa.  

Hear Lisa Davis at Radiothon 2010 describe the day of Celina's accident 

On Jan. 14, 2005, 3-year-old Celina was helping her mom set the table for dinner when she accidentally poured a bowl of scalding hot soup all over her chest. Celina screamed in agony as she splashed cold water on the burns. Her mother, Lisa, was unable to help at the time because she was on crutches with a broken ankle. Within seconds, Celina's skin was already starting to peel. Celina had sustained first and second-degree burns. Lisa called her husband, who was at work, and then called her pediatrician who advised her to call 911.

When the paramedics saw Celina’s burns they decided to airlift her to the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center burn unit.  The ambulance took Celina to the nearby middle-school yard, where they met the State helicopter. Thirteen minutes later, Celina found herself in the pediatric ER at Hopkins Children’s under the care of pediatric trauma coordinator Susan Ziegfeld for the next couple of hours.

Celina still remembers Susan and Child Life specialist Erin Munn. “They were absolutely wonderful,” mom Lisa says.

Celina was released later that night, but had to go back to Hopkins Children’s a few more times for follow-up and surgical clean-up and removing of the dead skin.

Celina was such a trooper during the ordeal that she didn’t even need sedation during this painful procedure. For the next several days Celina had to wear bandages on her arms and chest.  Today, Celina is a fan of pandas and the colors aqua and pink. She especially likes her pet rabbit and kitten. Celina's mom urges everyone to never fail to renew their car license tags because the money goes to pay for the State Medevac helicopters and “you never know when you might need their services.”