7-Year-Old Boy Soaked In Nail Polish Remover, Set Ablaze By Another Child

A 7-year-old boy in Missouri suffered serious face burns after another child soaked him in nail polish remover and then set him ablaze, according to reports. The victim’s mom, Ashley Lyons, opened up about the incident to raise awareness about the horrific act.

According Lyons, the incident took place on Aug. 6 at their apartment complex in Independence. She said her young son, Julien, is left with facial deformities and is unrecognizable.

While police is yet to determine the cause of the burns, Lyons told the Kansas City Star that Julien was playing outside in front of his family’s Hawthorne Place apartment when another kid reportedly doused him with the flammable liquid.

Lyons said she received a call that her son was being rushed to the hospital after an 8-year-old neighbor allegedly set him on fire.

“The burns were so bad that they had to go in immediately and do surgery that they had to scrape his face and all of his skin,” Lyons told the news station. A neighbor wrapped Julien in a wet towel and rolled him on the ground until paramedics arrived at the scene.

“My son kept saying ‘Stop. What are you doing?’ Julien kept telling him to leave him alone and that’s when he decided to burn him," she added.

Doctors told the family that Julien's internal organs, including his lungs, may have been impacted as well due to the burns.

“We really don’t know because he inhaled the flames [and] the smoke deteriorated inside his nostrils,” Lyons said. The young boy underwent surgery at Children’s Mercy Hospital, where he remains until recovery.

“It’s a very painful process for him,” Lyons told the paper. “There is a lot of anxiety. There is a lot of anger. There is a lot of confusion. He’s trying to maintain the best that he can, for a 7-year-old.”

A GoFundMe page was created to help raise money for Julien's medical bills and to move the family into a safer housing society, according to Fox-affiliated television station WDAF.

“The hospital is trying to release him soon, and we’re coming up with a home plan but there’s no home plan. This is not safe,” the mom told the news station.