More than four decades ago, her excruciating pain was exposed in a photo that made headlines around the world. Only now is she fully revealing the depth of her scarring—to both body and soul.
It's a moment forever captured, an iconic image that has come to define the horror and violence of the Vietnam War: Nine-year-old Kim Phuc running in agony moments after napalm bombs fell from the sky, bringing hellish fire that burned away her clothing and seared deep into her skin.
Left for dead in a hospital morgue, Kim miraculously survived—but her journey toward healing was only beginning. When the napalm bombs dropped, everything Kim knew and relied on exploded along with them: her beloved home and village, her country's freedom, as well as her childhood innocence and happiness. Kim's coming years would be marked by agonizing treatments for her burns, incessant physical pain throughout her body, and being handled for political propaganda. Kim survived the pain of her body ablaze, but how could she possibly survive the pain of her devastated soul?
Fire Road is a story of both unrelenting horror and unexpected hope, a harrowing tale of life changed in an instant. In this stunning first-hand account of struggling to find answers in a world that only seemed to bring anguish, Kim ultimately discovers strength in someone who had suffered himself, transforming her tragedy into an unshakable faith.
