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This is an image that represents the horrors of war.
A young, naked girl, with her arms outstretched and screaming in pain, runs to the camera from unseen horror.
Kim Phuc Phan Thi was 9 when her village in Vietnam was blown up by napalm.
Third-degree burns covered half of her body. She is not expected to survive. Her two cousins ​​did not.
Listen to Niall’s full interview with Kim Phuc Phan Thi on the Sky News Daily Podcast
Fifty years later, she still has scars—both physically and mentally.
However, the message she hopes to spread is not anger or revenge, but forgiveness and peace. A bit timely given the events in Ukraine.
“I saw the plane,” she told the Sky News Daily podcast. “It was very loud and very fast. I was just standing there.
“I saw four cans. Black. Falling from the plane. I heard a haunting sound that stayed with me.
“Then all of a sudden there was fire all around me”.
Kim would spend the next two years in hospitals and clinics; during that time, this photo, taken by The Associated Press’ Nick Ut, became one of the most iconic images of the conflict.
Kim was nine when her village in Vietnam was hit by napalm bombs
The Vietnamese government has not lost the power and disgrace of its image – Kim became a useful tool for propaganda.
“Then it hit me hard. A lot of times, my thoughts were suicidal.
“It’s hard to deal with. Physical pain, now emotional pain.
“Because of this, I wanted to kill myself. But I couldn’t.”
It was her newfound Christian faith that saved her.
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Kim eventually left Vietnam to study in Cuba, where she met and married her husband. The pair managed to defect to the west when the plane returning to their home refueled in Newfoundland.
They started a new life in Canada, and in 1996 she was invited to speak to thousands of Vietnam veterans in Washington, D.C., about her experience.
Kim Phuc Phan Thi now uses her Christian faith to spread the message of forgiveness – through her charity to fund groups that provide free medical care to victims of war and terrorism
There, she met the American pilot who coordinated the attack on her village.
“He was crying like a child…he couldn’t stop. He asked me, did you forgive me? Did you forgive me?
“I said, ‘Yes, I do. That’s why I’m here’.
“He told me ‘Please, can you look me in the eyes? You can see my 24 years of grief.’.
“Of course, I gave him a big hug.”
That’s her message of forgiveness now to the world through her work at the King International Foundation, which provides funds to groups that provide free medical care to victims of war and terrorism.
That desperate, scared little girl turned her pain into love – and made the world a little bit better.
Niall Paterson presents the Sky News Daily Podcast – a deeper dive into breaking news with Sky News reporters and expert guests.
Producer: Soila Apparicio
Editor: Beaumont, Philadelphia
Interview Producer: Alys Bowen
Podcast Promotion Producer: David Chipakupaku
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