Vino and his family are on their way back to Indonesia. I remember when Vino's father brought him to our clinic (see photo) with some very bad burns--his chin, chest, ears, neck and right arm were effected by the kerosene fire. Arrangements were made to bring Vino to L.A. where the Grossman Burn Center would provide the needed surgeries and therapy. He was accompanied by his father to America. It took about four years and several surgeries--in that time Vino's mother joined them and a new little brother joined their family. They really did well and Vino has a positive future ahead of him. He is so smart and is fluent in English. He has no accent and made lots of friends in his time in America.I want to thank The Children's Burn Foundation, Grossman Burn Center and Tina Johnson for the compassion and countless hours they invested to make Vino a whole person. They are the heroes.
They are on the flight to Indonesia as I am writing. They should be nearing Tokyo and hopefully will have no problems in finding their connecting flights. They will land in Singapore then on to Jakarta.
I will get to see them when I go to Indonesia. They are happy to be going home but really feel that the time in America was a "miracle" door for them. Vino is smart and should have a bright future.
