On September 30 last year, 27-year-old Courtney Waldon suffered horrific burns after a camp fire accident, where gasoline was poured onto the fire, only for it to explode towards her.
She suffered third-degree burns across her face and 40 per cent of her body, spending a month in a medically induced coma in hospital.
In the space of three months, she underwent eight surgeries, with doctors predicting she will need a further 12 surgeries in the next two years.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Waldon has detailed the moment her five-year-old daughter saw her for the first time after severe facial burns.
“She didn’t know what had happened. My parents told her that mummy had been in an accident and was getting better at the hospital,” Waldon told the magazine.
“When I got home, she looked at me really weird and was standoffish. But then I said, ‘It’s me, baby. It’s your mumma.’ After that she came and gave me a hug. She hasn’t let go since.”
Waldon added that throughout her entire ordeal, it's her daughter who has kept her sane.
“I’m so blessed to have a second chance, so I try and spend every second with her.
“It’s a miracle I survived. I was seconds away from dying.”
To add insult to a myriad of life-threatening injuries, just two weeks after the accident, Waldon's husband left her, leaving her with no income, and no certainty of ever returning to work.
Speaking to The Mirror last month, Waldon said it was “a slap in the face”.
“I tried and begged him to come back, my daughter didn't deserve it, but he just said he couldn't handle me,” she told the news outlet.
"I went from being the very pretty girl, just married, had my life in order, to barely being able to dress myself and needing help for everything and having to learn how to do things over again.”
In response, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help Waldon with her medical bills and everyday expenses, keeping her afloat at a time of complete uncertainty.
"Courtney is being forced to leave her home because of financial difficulties along with her mounting medical bills. A small group of loving people are desperately trying to build Courtney and Caroline a small home on her family's land. We are in very desperate need of funding for this and her huge pile of medical bills that keep rolling in," the fundraising page reads.
The page has since raised more than $180,000.