Pippie Kruger making good progress

Johannesburg - Limpopo burn victim Pippie Kruger, who is still undergoing extensive rehabilitation therapy, was able to visit her mother's rented flat in Johannesburg for the first time at the weekend, Beeld reported on Monday.

Her plastic surgeon Dr Ridwan Mia visited her at the flat on Saturday afternoon.

The 3-year-old sustained burns to 80% of her body at a braai on New Year's Eve in 2011.


limpopo burn victim Pippie Kruger, 3, is held by her parents Anice and Erwin. (Loanna Hoffmann, Beeld)
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She has since undergone months of treatment and a cloned skin transplant, and has been moved to a rehabilitation centre in Auckland Park, where she is expected to receive therapy until the end of the year.

Beeld reported that she stopped talking during the many months she spent in hospital, and would have to be taught to speak again.

She was able to hold her head up on her own for brief periods, but this was expected to improve.

The newspaper reported that her new skin, which was flown in from the United States, was healing well and she was being given daily gentle massages with a silicon-based cream to minimise long-term scarring.

"She must be given a lot of stimulation. At this stage, think of her as a little baby. If she stays in a hospital room all the time, she won't develop," Mia told Beeld.

SOURFCE : NEWS 24