A 7-year-old girl who was seriously hurt in a fire that killed her father and critically injured her mother and older brother is ready for the next step in her healing journey.
Gladys Solis was able to leave Torrance Memorial Medical Center on Wednesday, where she had been since a Christmas Day fire changed her life forever.
She will be heading to Shriners Children’s Hospital in Sacramento, where she will continue to heal after receiving skin grafts for her third-degree burns.
Gladys’ 44-year-old mother had been at the hospital with her, while her 12-year-old brother continues his recovery at Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center.
Her father, Sebastian Solis, 34, was killed in the fire.
More than three months later, doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital’s burn unit gathered to say goodbye to Gladys, who donned a pink unicorn shirt, a Dodgers beanie and a mask to help with scarring.
Her oldest brother, Jorge Ramirez, got emotional while thanking doctors and staff at the hospital for helping his sister.
“This journey is far from over. I just want to thank everyone who has been helping us out as well,” Ramirez said. “It’s a big step … It’s a blessing that we’re here right now. Just a couple of months ago it was very hard for me and my whole family.”
Ramirez added that while his sister was sad to say goodbye to the nurses and doctors who helped her, “change is good.”
“I want to give her the world, I want to give her everything. She’s my little princess,” he said.
Ramirez, who continues managing the care of his mother and siblings, created a GoFundMe page to raise money for his family’s long-term treatment, rehabilitation and housing.
“This child has been faced with some substantial challenges, and she has served us all as to how to handle that with youthful exuberance and optimism, and we can all take lessons from that,” Dr. Vimal Murthy, Torrance Memorial Medical Center’s burn specialist, said Wednesday. “She will need therapeutic needs … she’ll need to just continue her road of healing, but we’re very proud that we could take someone as devastatingly injured as her and at least try and get her back to some semblance of normality.”
Murthy said that while the severity of Gladys’ burns could have led to organ failure and she suffered “devastating” burns to her face and hands, she already has some of her mobility and energy back and is on the road toward just being a kid again.
“She’s well on her way to reengaging,” he said. “I think she’s in a good place and hopefully she’ll hit those timetables as soon as possible.”