June 16, 2000

Eight-year-old Karina Candelario likes to do things on her own despite the severe burns that cover her arms and part of her face. When asked how to spell her name for this Hotline article, the little girl from the Dominican Republic insisted on taking pen in hand and writing it out by herself.

This kind of determination has helped Karina and her family through a difficult time. Karina and her older sister, Fabiola, 9, and her mother, Claribel, all were badly burned in a house fire in their hometown of Santiago last July. The fire started when a propane tank exploded in the kitchen of their next door neighbor's house, which was only a few feet away from the Candelario household.

From left, Rafael, Karina and Claribel Candelario

The mother and two children were treated at a local hospital and then transferred to a nearby rehabilitation center where they heard about a free burn clinic that was being sponsored by the Shrine of North America. The Shrine of North America is an international fraternity that raises money for the Shriners Hospitals for Children, a network of 22 hospitals that provide no-cost orthopedic and burn care to children under 18.

Once a year, a team from the Boston Shriners Burns Hospital travels to the Dominican Republic to conduct a free clinic for young burn patients. Karina, her sister and mother were three of 85 burn patients who came to the Shriners Clinic this March. The Shriners medical team recommended the family be brought to Boston for further treatment and worked with the Shrine to arrange transportation for the Candelarios.

The Shriners surgeons who worked in the Dominican Republic clinic – Matthias Donelan, MD, Daniel Driscoll, MD, Michael Lewis, MD, and Robert Sheridan, MD – also are members of the MGH surgical staff. Because Shriners hospitals are fully supported by the Shrine, all care for burned children is provided at no charge to the family. Because the sisters would be receiving free care at Shriners Hospital, the MGH agreed to treat the mother without charge as well, to keep the family together during the long period of treatment.

"It's wonderful to be able to help this family," says Sheridan, "I'm grateful to the MGH and Shriners for providing the opportunity to care for them."

According to Sheridan, all three will have extensive surgeries to repair some of the damage on their arms, upper bodies and faces. After recovery, they all should regain function and mobility but will have some residual scarring and deformities that will be addressed in stages over the next few years. The family has been staying in Boston for the last month during their initial treatments and soon will return home to the Dominican Republic. They will probably return to Boston for additional surgery later in the year.