Kilee Brookbank (born June 2, 1998) is an American burn survivor, author and fundraiser for burn treatment from

Georgetown, Ohio Georgetown is a village in and the county seat of Brown County, Ohio, United States, located about southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 4,453 at the 2020 census. Georgetown was the childhood home of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. Hi ...

. She is the author of the books ''Beautiful Scars'' and ''Digger the Hero Dog'' and the founder of the nonprofit Kilee Gives Back Foundation.

Accident

On November 10, 2014, Brookbank suffered burns on 45 percent of her body when her home erupted in flames caused by a gas leak. Kilee had returned from

Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington High School Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington High School is a public high school in Ripley, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington School District. Athletics ''See also Ohio High School Athletic Association and Ohi ...

and smelled a foul odor. When she lit a candle to cover the smell, the house exploded around her. Brookbank was knocked out in the explosion but came to after persistent barking by her dog. She ran outside and was helped by neighbors. Brookbank was taken to

Shriners Hospitals for Children Shriners Hospitals for Children, commonly known as Shriners Children's, is a network of non-profit children's hospitals and other pediatric medical facilities across North America. Children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord inj ...

-Cincinnati, where she received treatment for 38 days, followed by extensive physical therapy. In January 2015, she returned to school, and in February she flew to Los Angeles to appear on '' The Doctors'' television program. During the segment, the producers surprised Brookbank with a visit from

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

Advocacy

Later that year, Brookbank and her family formed the Kilee Gives Back Foundation, which held the first Kilee Brookbank Celebrity Golf Tournament. In May 2016, Brookbank released her first book, ''Beautiful Scars'', which detailed her recovery from her burns. A portion of the proceeds from the book were to be donated to Shriners Cincinnati. Brookbank embarked on a book tour of Shriners hospitals in Cincinnati,

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, where she met with other burn survivors and their families.

Prom queen

Also in May 2016, Brookbank was featured on ''

Inside Edition ''Inside Edition'' is an American tabloid television program that is distributed in Broadcast syndication, first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine progr ...

'', a segment that followed Brookbank to her high school prom, where she was chosen as prom queen. The segment was picked up by numerous major media outlets, including '' Seventeen'', Yahoo! Style, PopSugar, AOL, Diply and Wimp.com.

Later career

Brookbank attended

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

in Cincinnati, majoring in communications. In November 2016, Brookbank served as a patient ambassador representing Shriners Cincinnati at the

Shriners Hospitals for Children Open The Shriners Children's Open is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Nevada. Founded in 1983, it is the fourth event of the Tour's 2019–20 wrap-around season and is played annually in October in Las Vegas. It is currently held at the TPC Su ...

in Las Vegas. In April 2017, her book ''Beautiful Scars'' won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Inspirational Book, awarded by the

Independent Book Publishers Association The Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) is a not-for-profit membership organization serving the independent publishing community through advocacy and education. With over 3,500 members, IBPA is the largest publishing trade association i ...

. Brookbank released an updated and revised edition, ''Beautiful Scars: A Life Redefined'', in November 2017, and expects to release her first children’s book, ''Digger the Hero Dog'', in May 2018. In January 2018, Brookbank returned to ''The Doctors'' for a story update. As of November 2020, Brookbank’s foundation had raised more than $343,000 for Shriners Cincinnati through its golf outing and other efforts, and the hospital had named a family suite in Brookbank’s honor. On May 24, 2018, Brookbank was the commencement speaker at Luzerne County (Pa.) Community College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brookbank, Kilee 1998 births Living people Burn survivors American child activists Xavier University alumni Activists from Ohio People from Georgetown, Ohio 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American writers