Jamoneisha Merritt, the 11-year-old girl who was badly burned during a sleepover when another girl poured boiling water on her face, is determined to stay happy despite her burns.
Just two weeks after the incident, Merritt was interviewed by ABC7 and asked if she was angry about the incident.
“I can’t be angry,” she replied. “I have to be happy.”
In fact, she smiled through the entire interview and seemed to be taking an optimistic and positive outlook on things even though she had suffered burns over 85 percent of her face.
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“When I fell asleep all I felt was hot water dripping down on my face, and they put me in a cold shower and threw ice on me,” she recalled of the moment she had been burned. “I started screaming and yelling. At first when I was in the hospital, I was looking sad and stuff, and crying.”
But now, even though she can’t yet go outside while her burns are healing, she is positive and upbeat.
“Now when I’m home, I just smile, dance and get ready for tomorrow,” she said.
Meanwhie, Jamoni’s mother has been calling for justice for her little girl. Although one girl has already been arrested, she wants two other girls and the girl’s mother to be arrested as well. The family’s attorney said that the burns were the result of a viral social media challenge called the “hot water challenge.”