Last June, Justin was helping his mom with some yard work on their rural Coggon home. Justin tried to set a brush fire using gasoline. That’s when something went terribly wrong.

"I guess I set the can right next to me. Then I bent down and lit it and I guess it got me or whatever. So I ran for about five, ten feet. Stopped, dropped and rolled," Justin said.

"And he was like--he’s a blond child, but his hair was all burned to his head, so I knew instantly," said Justin’s mom, Debra.

Justin was rushed to University of Iowa Children's Hospital and University of Iowa Health Care’s Burn Treatment Center. Dr. Pat Kealey, M.D.performed delicate skin grafts, using Justin’s healthy skin to help heal the burns on his arms and legs. It’s a process that begins in the operating room but takes months or even years to complete.

"The rehabilitation and occupational and physical therapy after grafting is neither short-term nor easy. We made sure he got to it, and we helped him and sustained him through it. That’s perfect," said Dr. Kealey.

Justin worked hard during his recovery, and it’s paid off. His burns are healing well, and he’s regained full motion in his arms and legs.

"He was supposed to go through ten days to two weeks of physical therapy, and up in Waterloo he was out in two days," Debra said. "He really, really went through it. He pushed himself. He really pushed."

Justin and his mom were so pleased with his recovery, they recently returned to University of Iowa Children's Hospital to pose for a special photograph, and to thank the specialists who helped bring a smile back to Justin’s face.

University of Iowa Health Care’s Burn Treatment Center opened in 1968. It is one of about 115 accredited burn centers in the U.S.