I suffered third-degree burns after using lice shampoo

ALEEMA Ali had only just put lice shampoo on her hair when her whole body went up in flames.

Although she survived, the now 21-year-old from Bradford was left with severe scarring and had to relearn how to walk, talk and eat.

“My mum just started screaming,” the trainee councillor recalled of the traumatic day.

“I didn’t know what was going on at first, as it was just my hair that was on fire, so I didn’t feel any pain.

“Then I saw my reflection in the window, and stood frozen in shock.  

“The flames spread to my scalp, and I was hit with an intense pain.”

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Aleema was rushed to intensive care with third-degree burns over half of her body, placed in a coma for two months and spent several gruelling months in hospital.

She lost seven fingers and had to have surgeries every day.

Aleema Ali was just 12 years old in December 2016 when she returned home from boarding school for the Christmas break and noticed she had picked up nits.  

Her mum applied Full Marks Solution, a medicated shampoo to kill the lice, and after the treatment had been applied, Aleema headed to the bin, to throw the package away.

However, as she walked past the lit hob in the kitchen, her hair caught fire, as the medicine was extremely flammable.  

Hearing the commotion, Aleema’s older sister, who was at the time eight months pregnant, came downstairs and dragged Aleema outside.

Aleema passed out for around 30 seconds due to the pain, before her quick-thinking sister grabbed a passing delivery man’s jacket and used it to pat out the flames.  

When the paramedics arrived, Aleema “screamed” at them to “put me to sleep because I couldn’t cope with the pain,” she said.

She added: “The next thing I remember is waking up six weeks later.

“My parents told me not to look in the mirror, as I looked so different.

“They really helped me to prepare, so when I finally looked at my reflection, it wasn’t that hard, as I’d already imagined the worst.  

“I felt like I was back to being a baby, as I had to learn to walk, talk and feed myself again.”

Struggles with many day-to-day tasks,

Nine years on, Aleema still has bad days, especially when people “stare” at her in the street. “It’s really hard,” she said. “But I’m getting better at coping.”

She added: “My accident has made me and my family so much more resilient, and open minded.”

Aleema spent nine months in hospital, and when she returned home, in August 2017, still had nurses tending to her six hours a day.  

She was homeschooled for a year, before joining a new school in September 2018.  

“It was so hard joining a new school when I looked so different to everyone else”, she said.  

Aleema is now at university, where she is studying to be a counsellor, so that she can help others who have suffered from similar traumatic experiences.

She is still having surgeries and recently had skin taken from her groin to make ear flaps, so that she can wear earrings.  

She also shares her story online, on @aleemaxali, and said that although she got cruel comments at first, people are now used to seeing her and other burns survivors online.

She still struggles with many day-to-day tasks, such as tying up her hair, or opening jars, but is improving every day.