STACEY Brown has lived for almost her entire life with scars covering much of her body, neck and upper legs.
The 23-year-old was badly burned after her clothes caught fire when she accidentally lit a match aged just two.
Although her dad put out the flames with pillows, the burns scarred Stacey and she has had more than 40 operations.
Stacey said: "My earliest memory is being in hospital and having an injection in my hand to put me to sleep for an operation."
The former Haddon Park and Clarendon College student added: "I had 60 per cent burns that came from the start of my chin all the way down to my stomach and the top part of my legs."
After the accident, Stacey was rushed to the Queen's Medical Centre, where she was stabilised, and then transferred to the City Hospital, which had a specialist burns unit.
Stacey, who has a two-year-old son, William, said: "I got bullied, so that was quite a difficult thing, and I find it hard to run around and stuff. It was difficult being off for operations and I was behind with my work."
Stacey has been offered a new brand of surgery using shark skin, since she hasn't got any usable skin left herself. However, due to looking after her son, she is unable to find enough time for the procedure. Despite the impact on her life and still needing check-ups and feeling pain, the Bilborough mother does not ask for pity.
"It hasn't had a big effect on my life," she said.
She is now raising money for a charity that helps victims.
Stacey said: "At the age of 16, I did one week of my work experience in the Nottingham City Hospital burns unit and there was a young girl who had come in with burns. I used to sit and talk to her and we got to know each other. I had been though the same as her. Then, at 18, I had helped a girl who was finding it hard with being a burns victim."
Stacey has organised raffles and sponsorship from companies, like the Strand Hair Salon, in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, to help the Children's Burns Trust.
She said: "I have raised over £200 at the moment but I have until May to raise at least £500. I am hoping to raise more then that and maybe I can, with help. This is a cause close to my heart."
