She nearly lost her life. Instead, 6-year-old Mackenzie lost the fingers and toes on her left hand and foot after a fire that started one floor down ripped through her family’s Indiana apartment on December 16.
“She couldn’t get to me,” her dad, Jared Mosgrove, told the Lafayette Journal & Courier. The 44-year-old had frantically tried to rescue his three children as their home filled with thick smoke. He was able to get Liam, 11, and Teagan, 4, out.
Firefighters arrived minutes later and found the little girl hiding behind the couch, right above where the fire had started after a candle fell onto a sofa in the apartment downstairs. The little girl was airlifted to a hospital and was in critical condition. She had burns on 68 percent of her body.
“I got to the hospital as quickly as I could, and as soon as I walked in to the ward, I knew how serious this was — she was black from head to toe and evidently in so much pain,” Kenzie’s mom, Jessica, told The Mirror.
“The most devastating news came before her fourth surgery on January 3, where we were told that she would have to have her fingers and toes on the left side of her body removed, as they had completely died,” continued Jessica, noting that her little girl also had to have her blonde hair removed because she was so badly burned on her scalp as well. “This was one of the hardest things for [Kenzie] to understand, as she suddenly woke up and couldn’t figure out where her hands and fingers had gone.”
Though the little girl had multiple surgeries over her months in the hospital, she was able to start walking again in January. Kenzie was discharged in mid March, and was back to school in early April.
“We worry that she’s not going to develop like a normal girl, and her amputations will cause difficulty with every day tasks,” Jessica shared with The Mirror. “As amazing as she is, this situation could have easily been avoided if a candle wasn’t lit in the first place, and that’s what I want people to know.”
Friends of the family have started a GoFundMe page to help the Mosgroves. As of press time, the donations already raised are just shy of the $10,000 goal.
