THE mother of a toddler who was severely burnt by hot coals buried in sand has again urged people to ensure they extinguish their camping fires.
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Catherine Lamb's plea comes as John Buckley, who turns two this Friday, faces up to two decades of operations on his feet as a result of the Anzac Day accident.
John suffered third-degree burns to his left foot, severe burns to his right leg and superficial burns to both hands when he stepped into the burning coals, which had been concealed by sand.
Ms Lamb and husband Justin Buckley spent weeks in Sydney's Westmead Hospital with their son, who required numerous skin grafts on his feet.
John is due for a three-month check up with specialists soon and faces operations until he is about 18, when his feet stop growing, to help heal the scars.
"He has to do lots of physio every day and put special cream on his toes - he doesn't like that too much," Ms Lamb said.
"He's coping OK, though. It's six months since the accident and (the daily recovery processes) are almost the norm now."
Ms Lamb said The Riverina Anglican College, where she and Justin work, had been supportive in allowing the couple to have time off to attend medical appointments.
The school also held a fund-raiser, with proceeds going towards helping John's long recovery process.
"On our last visit to the specialist he said John will require regular skin grafts right up to the age of 18 when his feet stop growing," she said.
She said John's accident should be a warning to others to put out their camp fires.
"I'm hoping people can remember to properly extinguish fires, so this doesn't happen again," she said.
