Burn victim gets special place at graduation

Next Thursday, burn victim Alecia King will officially graduate from the Dinthill Technical High School.

Last year, when her batch was graduating, King was battling for her life in a US hospital, after receiving extensive burns to her body after being doused with gasolene and set ablaze. THE WEEKEND STAR spoke with the bubbly 18-year-old, who said she was anticipating partaking in the school leaving ceremony.

"Excited is an understatement for how I feel. I think I am feeling highly favoured in God's eyes. I did not get the chance to graduate in 2023 and I had no idea that God and the people He sent to help me fulfil my blessings would do such a wonderful favour by allowing me to graduate. I am just happy that I am officially going to be a graduate of the Dinthill Technical High School," she said. King returned to the island in February after receiving six months of life-saving treatments at Shriners Burn Center in Texas.

Last August, the teenager was set ablaze after being doused with gasolene as she slept at a relative's house in Redwood, St Catherine. She received third degree burns all over her body. Days after the incident, the Sanmerna Foundation, headed by managing director Robert White, was able to have King, who was barely clinging to life, flown to the US for treatment.

Antwone 'Bad Fowl' Grey, King's ex-boyfriend and the man who is accused of setting her on fire, was arrested by the police about a day after she returned to the island. A woman accused of harbouring him in her home in Central Village, St Catherine, was also arrested.

King has a growing audience on social media and she has been highlighting episodes of her life on TikTok since the incident. Her videos are always entertaining and enlightening. She said that her content is not only a boost for herself but serves as a motivation for others.

"I want persons who are faced with difficult situations like mine to know that no matter what scars you have, you are still beautiful. I am still beautiful. We still have life and still have what it takes to be queens in our circle," King said.