American Heart: Child Burn Victim Shows Strength, Resilience

Nov. 10, 2010— -- Alfred Real is just 8 years old, and one of the strongest little men in the world. After suffering severe burns over most of his body, he is alive today thanks to the help of doctors who grew new pieces of his own skin.

Real was burned in an accident this past June in wooded area near his family's home in Stone Mountain, Ga. His family says neighborhood children were there playing with lighters and a can of gasoline when they started a brush fire. When Alfred came to help them put it out, he was suddenly covered in flames. His mother, Angela Real, rushed him to the hospital. She says she'll never forget that day.

"In the back seat of the car he said, 'Mommy, am I going to die? Cause I think I might die.' And I said, 'No you're not going to die, you're not going to die,'" she said.

Doctors at Shriner's Hospital for Children in Cincinnati saved his life. They used a risky procedure so controversial, the Food and Drug Administration had to first approve it.

They took what small pieces of skin Alfred had left and used it to grow "cultured" skin in a laboratory. The pieces they began with were a little larger than a postage stamp. They grew 3,000 square centimeters of this cultured skin, enough to cover the boy's body. The cultured skin lacks sweat glands and hair follicles, and had to be surgically applied, in small pieces.

"It was absolutely unbearable just to see him so swollen up and disfigured and, you know, not really awake or aware for the first two weeks at all, " Alfred's father, Zach Real, said.

After dozens of operations, Alfred became well enough in nine weeks to return to school. At Arcado Elementary School, a teddy bear had been sitting in his seat, holding his spot for the day he would return.

Alfred's doctors flew into town beforehand, to show his classmates what to expect. Principal Penny Palmer-Young said it would be helpful for the students to understand exactly what happened to Real.

"I felt that this would be a wonderful learning opportunity for them to really be able to understand what he went through, what he continues to go through and to be able to be compassionate," she said.

On October 14, Zach Real was able to walk his son into school. Alfred, in his new skin, saw his old friends. For the next year, he must wear a protective suit, from head to toe, while his skin fully heals. His classmates got to wear pieces of the suit when Alfred's doctors came to visit weeks ago.

"Arcado is awesome and I'm awesome," Real said.

It was a big day for Alfred. He walked into his classroom, removed the teddy bear from his seat, and sat at his desk. Doctors told his classmates it was fine to hug him, and they did.

"No one would want to wear this," Alfred said to his class. "I don't like wearing this. I always want to take it off."

Said one classmate: "I like it because it looks like a firefighter mask."