At six years old, Damani Spears is bubbly and charismatic. She will go up to new people and ask, “Do you want to be my friend?” She loves to sing and dance.
She has also lived a nightmare.
“She’s dealt with more in six years than I have in 73,” said Spears’ great-grandmother Artemise Jones of Boutte.
In October of 2021, Spears suffered third degree burns, the result of severe abuse: scalding hot water was poured on her, and her organs began to fail.
“She was in renal failure,” said Jones. “She was about to die. At first, (the doctors) didn’t realize she had been burned – they were focused on trying to save her life from organ failure. They didn’t realize until they shaved her hair that she had third degree burns on her head and down her back.
“It’s unthinkable to do that to a little girl … I just thank God she’s still living.”
Jones, who now serves as Spears’ guardian, said her granddaughter’s physical recovery has gone well. But Jones said mentally, there are many hurdles that Spears encounters daily, and a primary focus has been finding her granddaughter the help she needs to deal with the emotional toll left upon her.
“She has good days and bad days. She has anger from it all, and also from being apart from her mother, her sister and her brother – she’s missing them. She’s having nightmares and flashbacks of what was done to her. It’s a lot for a 6-year-old to deal with. I’ve been trying to find the right mental health for her,” Jones said.
Jones has been paying for Spears’ mental therapy out of pocket, which hasn’t been easy financially on a fixed income.
Furthermore, she’s trying to find the right fit for Spears’ needs when it comes to that counseling.
“What we have is not sufficient – she’s dealing with a lot, and it’s not a textbook kind of situation,” Jones said. “She’s not the normal 6-year-old. A lot of professionals, they’re dealing with what they know and what they’re experienced with … she’s a traumatized, abused 6-year-old who’s waking up in the middle of the night, having nightmares and flashbacks. I just want to find the right help for her.”
Spears is faced with multiple surgeries, mental health counseling, keloid complications, and a life-long process in helping her to feel confident when she looks in the mirror.
Nikki Brown and Ny Brown of Destrehan have set up a GoFundMe page (titled 5-year-old suffers 3rd degree burns) to raise money to help offset these day-to-day costs. More than $6K has been donated so far.
As much as anything, Jones said, suggestions of where to turn to find the best possible help for Spears would be helpful.
Nikki Brown echoed that in comments relayed through the fundraiser page.
“We are extremely proud of all of her progress but there is so much more that she will have to endure as she gets older,” Brown said. “We would really love to create a village for her in every area of hardship so that she has the best chance at having a close to normal life after all of the trauma she has endured … No amount of prayer, sharing, and giving is too small to make an impact if there are any professionals of expertise in the areas that anyone would think beneficial to creating the best chance at a marvelous life – please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.”
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