Seven years old.

Burned and afraid.

For two weeks at a time over the span of six months Lucas Parra spent his time at the MUSC Burn Unit.

An accident that was caused by a pot of boiling water that LUcas was close proximity of while his mother was cooking. The stool Lucas was standing on fell out from under him and he caught the pot of water with his arm.

The first two week stay was spent right after the accident, and since then he went back for surgery and other reparative stays.

“When I was in first grade I was burnt in an accident and MUSC was the closest pediatric burn unit, so it was the best place for me to go,” said Lucas who is now 12 and lives in West Ashley.
What most people don’t know about this seemingly normal sixth grader is the scars that are left on his body.

The scars that he only lets motivate him.

Lucas is a part of the MUSC kids Hospital Champions, these kids have spent time in the at the MUSC Children’s Hospital and took it like champions.

“The MUSC team felt like family to me. They really helped me get back up on my feet,” Lucas said.

Lucas has previously helped develop educational videos and a comic book since the accident to educate others on safety in the kitchen.

Lucas was a featured speaker at WandoTHON Feb. 2.

“At WandoTHON I was able to talk on stage and tell my story, while also having some fun and doing some Zumba,” Lucas said.

Lucas was thankful to be invited to such an important fundraising event that could help children that were in the same position as him.

“I loved WandoTHON and would definitely come back for another year,” Lucas said.

Lucas’ favorite Pediatric Burns RNs, Jill Evans and Ryan Howard, were the ones who told him about the event and encouraged him to be a Hospital Champion.

“I got to see them all the time while I was in the hospital and they were the most supportive nurses to have around,” Lucas said.

Lucas loves spending time with his family, and he goes to a summer camp every summer to be around other kids who were treated at MUSC.

“I love the camp, I’ve been going for five years in a row and it it the highlight of my summer,” Lucas said.

His number #1 supporter, his mother, Ashlee Parra, loves sending Lucas to the camp every summer.

“The hospital raises money for the kids to go to the camp for free for a week out of the summer.
Almost all the counselors are firemen, which is Lucas’ favorite part,” Mrs. Parra said.

While in the hospital, Lucas missed a significant amount of school, but his school was very supportive of him.

“My school’s mascot, a Grover, even came to visit me while I was in the hospital, made me feel a lot better while I was there,” Lucas said.

Over the past few years Lucas has done a few campaigns for MUSC that have included College of Charleston Cougarthon and a campaign with Costco.

“I wanted to support MUSC in any way I can,” he said. “They helped me through the most rough part of my childhood.”