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Educating communities on burn injuries during winter months

08 May 2025 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied

Nosicelo Madushana, a third-year medical student at the UFS, was four years old when she sustained third-degree burn wounds on 70% of her body.

With winter fast approaching, healthcare professionals in the Free State are gearing up for an increase in burn injuries during these cold months. Many of these injuries are preventable, and doctors and medical staff believe educating communities about common preventive practices can help keep them safe.

Dr Hilge du Preez, Paediatric Surgeon from the University of the Free State (UFS), says they observe an increase in burn injuries, which can be devastating, causing serious bodily harm, long-term disability, and even death, during the winter months.

“As healthcare professionals, we do all we can to help burn injury patients recover and regain their health and activity. However, as with many other conditions, the best treatment for a burn injury is prevention. Thermal burns are the most common type of burn we see. These are caused by contact with hot substances or fluids, such as flames or boiling water. Children and adults sustain burn injuries in different ways.

“While children can suffer burns from flames, they are more likely to burn themselves by spilling hot liquids or food. We also see cases where children accidentally fall into a tub of hot water that is being prepared for a bath,” says Dr Du Preez.

According to Dr Du Preez, when cooking, it is safer to have pot and pan handles turned inward, rather than outward where children can reach them. Kettle cords and tablecloths should be tucked in and kept out of reach to prevent children from pulling them and spilling hot substances.

A turning point

Nosicelo Madushana, a third-year medical student at the UFS, was four years old when she sustained third degree burn wounds on 70% of her body after a large pot of boiling water, fell on her. However, she would only later really understand the impact of this accident on her life.

“It wasn’t until I was in Grade 3 that I began to understand that I was perceived as different. During an Eskom educational session on the dangers of electricity, the presenter used the analogy of turning into a "chicken roast" when tampering with electric circuits. In that moment, a number of my peers turned, pointed, and laughed, likening me to the example given.

“That experience marked a turning point in my self-awareness and emotional resilience. It shaped me profoundly. I became emotionally guarded, not violent, but verbally defensive. I often felt I had to exist in survival mode rather than being allowed to simply be myself,” Nosicelo recalls.

As a result of these experiences, she explains, she developed a deep-seated need to constantly prove that she belonged in every space she entered. She wanted to ensure that any opportunity or recognition she received was based solely on merit and not influenced by perceptions of her physical appearance or sympathy for her circumstances. It became an unhealthy cycle of overcompensation and striving to validate her presence.

This is demonstrated in her academic achievements as she first did a Bachelor of Sciences in Medical Bioscience degree, followed by a postgraduate diploma in Augment and Virtual Reality (Comp Science) (both at University of the Western Cape). She followed this up with an Honours degree in Anatomical Pathology at Sefako Makgathu Health Sciences University.

Apply correct first aid treatment immediately

Dr Du Preez says they also recommend that children should never be left unsupervised around hot substances, whether food or fire. When running a bath for a child, add cold water to the tub first, then hot water to reach the desired temperature. This is safer because, if a child falls into the tub, they will only encounter cold water rather than hot, which could prevent a severe, potentially life-threatening injury.

Adults, on the other hand, explains Dr Du Preez, typically sustain severe burns due to flames, which may result from house fires or accidents involving fire. Paraffin stoves are responsible for a significant number of house fires in South Africa, and healthcare professionals strongly advise against their use.

In the era of load-shedding, people need to be mindful of safe practices when using candles, says Dr Du Preez. Candles should never be left unattended and should always be placed in a container that covers the flame. This helps prevent the risk of a candle setting a room on fire if it falls over.

“If someone suffers a burn injury, correct first aid treatment should be applied immediately. Remove any clothing and jewellery from the affected area, and ensure any burning debris is removed. Cool the burn by running it under lukewarm tap water for 10-15 minutes. Cover the wound with a clean, damp cloth and seek medical attention. Do not apply “home remedies” such as toothpaste, raw egg, or shoe polish, as these can impair healing and increase the risk of infection and scarring.

“In the event of a fire, remember to ‘stop, drop, and roll’ to extinguish any flames. Remove burning clothes and debris, cover the person with a clean towel, and seek urgent medical care.”

Being burned victim is her normal

Nosicelo, whose passion lies in research and the fight against cancer, being a burn victim is her normal. She has no memory or photographic evidence of herself without burns. “What I dislike the most is the empathetic gaze, the unsolicited pity, the assumption that I am a victim in constant need of help. I am not a tragic story. I am a woman who is brave, resilient, beautiful, and forging her own path.

“My life is not defined by the incident, but by the choices I make and the legacy I intend to leave. I am a three-time graduate, and I will not stop until I attain the prestigious FCPath(SA) qualification (the Fellowship of the College of Pathologists of South Africa, a recognised postgraduate qualification in pathology for medical practitioners in South Africa.) My journey is one of strength, not sorrow. I am committed to being a part of the global effort to eliminate this disease. Until that day comes, I dedicate myself to being a voice for cancer education, prevention, and early detection, empowering individuals with knowledge that can save lives.”

News Archive

Weideman focuses on misconceptions with regard to survival of Afrikaans

2006-05-19

From the left are Prof Magda Fourie (Vice-Rector: Academic Planning), Prof Gerhardt de Klerk (Dean: Faculty of the Humanities), George Weideman and Prof Bernard Odendaal (acting head of the UFS Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French).
Photo (Stephen Collett):

Weideman focuses on misconceptions with regard to survival of Afrikaans

On the survival of a language a persistent and widespread misconception exists that a “language will survive as long as people speak the language”. This argument ignores the higher functions of a language and leaves no room for the personal and historic meaning of a language, said the writer George Weideman.

He delivered the D.F. Malherbe Memorial Lecture organised by the Department Afrikaans at the University of the Free State (UFS). Dr. Weideman is a retired lecturer and now full-time writer. In his lecture on the writer’s role and responsibility with regard to language, he also focused on the language debate at the University of Stellenbosch (US).

He said the “as-long-as-it-is spoken” misconception ignores the characteristics and growth of literature and other cultural phenomena. Constitutional protection is also not a guarantee. It will not stop a language of being reduced to a colloquial language in which the non-standard form will be elevated to the norm. A language only grows when it standard form is enriched by non-standard forms; not when its standard form withers. The growth or deterioration of a language is seen in the growth or decline in its use in higher functions. The less functions a language has, the smaller its chance to survive.

He said Afrikaans speaking people are credulous and have misplaced trust. It shows in their uncritical attitude with regard to the shifts in university policies, university management and teaching practices. Afrikaners have this credulity perhaps because they were spoilt by white supremacy, or because the political liberation process did not free them from a naïve and slavish trust in government.

If we accept that a university is a kind of barometer for the position of a language, then the institutionalised second placing of Afrikaans at most tertiary institutions is not a good sign for the language, he said.

An additional problem is the multiplying effect with, for instance, education students. If there is no need for Afrikaans in schools, there will also be no need for Afrikaans at universities, and visa versa.

The tolerance factor of Afrikaans speaking people is for some reasons remarkably high with regard to other languages – and more specifically English. With many Afrikaans speaking people in the post-apartheid era it can be ascribed to their guilt about Afrikaans. With some coloured and mostly black Afrikaans speaking people it can be ascribed to the continued rejection of Afrikaans because of its negative connotation with apartheid – even when Afrikaans is the home language of a large segment of the previously oppressed population.

He said no one disputes the fact that universities play a changing role in a transformed society. The principle of “friendliness” towards other languages does not apply the other way round. It is general knowledge that Afrikaans is, besides isiZulu and isiXhosa, the language most spoken by South Africans.

It is typical of an imperialistic approach that the campaigners for a language will be accused of emotional involvement, of sentimentality, of longing for bygone days, of an unwillingness to focus on the future, he said.

He said whoever ignores the emotional aspect of a language, knows nothing about a language. To ignore the emotional connection with a language, leads to another misconception: That the world will be a better place without conflict if the so-called “small languages” disappear because “nationalism” and “language nationalism” often move closely together. This is one of the main reasons why Afrikaans speaking people are still very passive with regard to the Anglicising process: They are not “immune” to the broad influence that promotes English.

It is left to those who use Afrikaans to fight for the language. This must not take place in isolation. Writers and publishers must find more ways to promote Afrikaans.

Some universities took the road to Anglicision: the US and University of Pretoria need to be referred to, while there is still a future for Afrikaans at the Northwest University and the UFS with its parallel-medium policies. Continued debate is necessary.

It is unpreventable that the protest over what is happening to Afrikaans and the broad Afrikaans speaking community must take on a stronger form, he said.

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