17-Month-Old Hospitalized After Freak Accident Involving Vicks VapoRub and Candle

Young Amahd Black is recovering following extensive surgery addressing his burn injuries.
Young Amahd Black is recovering following extensive surgery addressing his burn injuries.GoFundMe

Young Amahd Black's parents witnessed the horrific incident through their nanny cam.

A freak accident involving Vicks VapoRub and a lit candle led to 17-month-old Amahd Black suffering burns over nearly 40% of his body, his parents said. The young boy from Atlanta, Georgia, had accidentally slipped through a baby gate and mistakenly poured Vicks VapoRub into a lit candle before it exploded, WXIA reported.

“He was on fire here, and I saw a little ball of light … you couldn’t even make out that it was a person,” his mom Rochenda Golightly, a mother-of-four, told WXIA.

She and Amahd’s dad witnessed the whole incident through their nanny cam last month, she said. “On camera, it just looked like a circle of light running down the hallway,” Golightly said.

Amahd was rushed to a pediatric burn unit in Augusta, three hours away from their home, and was sedated for his initial recovery, according to a GoFundMe set up to support the family’s medical bills.

He suffered second and third degree burns, and has already undergone several surgeries to address his injuries, the GoFundMe read. Amahd is expected to remain in the hospital through the new year.

"I'm just so scared for how things will be," Golightly told WXIA. "Every time I walk in there I just break down."

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