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Vietnam "Napalm Girl" Undergoing Treatments In Miami

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — It was a photo that stopped much of the world in its tracks. The painful image captured the horror of the Vietnam War and the cost to children and civilians.

But more than four decades later and now there is a new chapter of healing for the girl in the photo and it's unfolding right here in South Florida.

Tears filled the eyes of Kim Phuc, who arrived at Miami International Airport last month, "This is heaven on earth for me, "she said. "I cannot wait." She went on to say how happy she was to see her doctor.

Phuc was 9 years old when she was photographed running in agony and pain after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack during the Vietnam War.

Phuc, now 52 years old, is turning to doctors in South Florida and is undergoing a series of laser treatment in the US for her injuries.

"Forty-three years that I suffered so much for the pain. Last night, I couldn't sleep to see her," Phuc told the Associated Press.

Arriving with her husband from their home in Canada, she was welcomed at Miami International Airport en route to a see a dermatologist who specializes in laser treatment for burn patients.

Phuc says she always believed she would have to wait until heaven to experience a life without pain and scars.

But now she has begun a series of laser treatments that her doctor, Jill Waibel of the Miami Dermatology and Laser Institute, says will smooth and soften the thick scar tissue that ripples from her left hand up her arm, up her neck to her hairline and down almost all of her back.

"She's been in a lot of pain all the time, for 40 years. Our number one goal is to get Kim out of pain, so she can go on and return to her life," said Dr. Waibel.

The doctor is donating her services and treatments she believes will also relieve the deep aches and pains that plague Phuc  to this day.

Documenting her treatment on camera is Nick Ut, the former AP Pulitzer prize-winning photographer who captured the image of the little girl in 1972. Ut is now 65 years old.

Behind and in front of the camera, this new day was welcomed with unimagined gratitude.

"A lot of red. Yes, it is a time for healing, my skin is very tight on my body and there is a lot of pain. That is the most important," said Phuc. "I feel much better about being spiritual. I'm so excited and I'm so happy all the time."

Phuc is expected  to need up to seven treatments over the next eight or nine months. She will be commuting back and forth from South Florida her home in Canada.

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