On a cold night last May, the McAuliffe family gathered around their fire pit, roasting marshmallows on their rural property in Chapman Valley, Western Australia.

After the couple took their four young daughters off to bed, Paige’s husband Anthony removed the excess wood and coal and hosed it off, as he always did.

The next afternoon, the kids raced back outside with their parents. Their youngest child at the time, 18-month-old Dusty, was walking along with one of her big sisters when all of a sudden she tripped and fell.

“I heard her crying but I couldn’t see where she was,” mum Paige tells 9Honey. “She had tripped and fallen into the fire pit.

“She was inside the fire pit, sitting on her bottom. I think I froze for a split second and then I just remember thinking, ‘Oh God, it might still be hot’, and then I noticed there was ash all over her.”

Paige, who was 38 weeks pregnant, leapt into action.

“I remember standing in a cold shower, 38 weeks pregnant, holding my little girl as her skin was badly affected and coming away onto my feet.

“We took her clothes off and I sprinted her straight into the shower,” she recalls.

“I remember standing in a cold shower, 38 weeks pregnant, with this huge belly, holding my little girl as her damaged skin came away. It was all over me.

“It was overwhelming.”

Little Dusty was drifting in and out of awareness as they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

“I remember calling the ambulance as hubby tried to shield our other kids, and I just tried to hold her and keep her body under the cool running water.”

Because the family lived in a rural area, it took 26 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.

Dusty was flown straight to Perth Children’s Hospital with her dad, under the care of the renowned Dr. Fiona Wood and her team, as Paige was too heavily pregnant to fly.

As it turned out, the little girl had sustained severe burn injuries, including third-degree burns to her right hand, second-degree burns to her left hand and forearm, with some areas reaching the nerves.

“On the weekend we arrived, the team was simply incredible and she had her first skin graft that Monday,” Paige explains.

“Since then, almost a year later, she’s had 17 skin grafts every six to eight weeks to rebuild her hands as she continues to grow, with grafts taken from her groin and legs.”

To add to the stress, Paige gave birth three weeks later, alone, but managed to be back holding her little girl’s hand the following day for another dressing change.

“It was a crazy time,” she recalls. “Dusty was still in the burns ward while I was in labour. I managed to hold him in until 41 weeks but was back by her side the next day.”

Paige decided to share her story with Tiny Hearts Education because, fortunately, she had seen one of their posts about burn first aid not long before the accident.

“I was able to act fast, confident that cool running water is best,” she confirms.

With fire and camping season upon us, Paige is encouraging parents to stay alert and take extra care to ensure fires are fully extinguished and properly secured.

“Unbeknownst to us, the fire pit had continued to smoulder all day,” she said, explaining that because the fire pit was 30cm into the ground, the heat remained trapped in the bottom half.

“We were also fortunate that about half an hour before she fell, we noticed the mosquitoes were out so we changed her into a long-sleeve shirt, long pants and her tutu.

“It could have been much worse.”

Dusty and Paige have spent nine months of the last year either in temporary accommodation near the hospital or at Ronald McDonald House due to Dusty’s surgeries, separated from the rest of the family.

“A burn injury changes your whole life,” she continues.

“It’s been incredibly challenging. But Dusty has made amazing progress and is able to use her hand now, which is wonderful.”

“She will continue to need skin grafts and laser treatment as she grows, especially because she is still so young.”

Paige is incredibly grateful to Dr. Fiona Wood and her team, as well as Tiny Hearts Education.

“Please don’t become complacent,” she urges other parents. “It happened so quickly while we were all there. You never expect to face situations like this.”

The mum of five also wants to raise awareness about the lasting emotional impact of burn injuries.

“The Fiona Wood Foundation aims to reduce the physical, emotional, and social impact experienced by people living with burn injuries,” she said.