Cohen was just 12 when a backyard accident at his Central Coast home left him with serious burns and needing urgent care at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW). Thanks to rapid access to specialist treatment and advanced burns technology, he’s made a remarkable recovery.

In October 2021, Cohen and a friend attempted to recreate a viral TikTok video - a backyard “flamethrower” experiment using a lighter and a spray paint can.

What followed unfolded in seconds. “It just sounded like a gunshot,” Cohen’s mum Tina recalls. “And then everything happened so fast.”

Within minutes, emergency services arrived at the family’s Central Coast home. Due to the severity of Cohen’s condition, he was airlifted to the Burns Unit at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) for urgent treatment.

There, a highly specialised burns team was ready and waiting. Cohen was taken straight into surgery, giving him immediate access to the latest burns injury technologies, treatments, and specialist care - care that would prove critical to his recovery.

“The first 24 hours were terrifying,” Tina says. “But the doctors and nurses were incredible - calm, focused, and completely committed to doing everything they could for him.”

One of the biggest concerns for Cohen’s medical team was the risk of internal burns. Remarkably, doctors soon discovered that Cohen’s injuries could have been far worse - and that his love of surfing may have played an unexpected role in saving his life.

“One of the doctors asked us, ‘This is a long shot, but does he surf?’” Tina recalls.

“They explained that surfers are trained by instinct to clamp everything shut when they come off a wave. Cohen’s eyes were tightly closed, and he didn’t inhale when the paint can exploded. That reflex meant he wasn’t burned internally. In a way, surfing saved his life.”

Cohen spent the following six days in the Burns Unit at CHW, receiving intensive treatment and round-the-clock care. Alongside the extraordinary skill of his medical team, access to advanced burns technologies and innovative treatments helped accelerate his healing and reduce long-term scarring.

“At first, I thought his whole life would be shaped by this,” Tina says. “But the technology they had, and the way they used it, was unbelievable."

Behind this incredible care is the generosity of partners and donors who fund vital equipment, research, and treatments at the Burns Unit at CHW. Their support helps ensure children like Cohen have immediate access to world-class treatment when every second counts.

Cohen approached his recovery with determination, carefully protecting his fragile new skin and following every instruction. “He really put the effort in,” Tina says. “He understood he only had one chance to heal properly.”

Today, unless you know what to look for, you would never guess what Cohen has been through. “Sometimes I just look at him and cry,” Tina says. “We were so close to him not being here.

For their family, the experience changed everything. “You don’t know you need a children’s hospital until you need it,” Tina reflects. “And then you’re just so grateful that level of care exists.

That level of care exists because of a powerful partnership between clinicians, researchers, and a community of supporters who believe every child deserves the best chance at recovery.

Through philanthropy, lifesaving technology, specialist expertise, and innovative treatments continue to advance, changing the future for sick kids, young people and their families.