Teenage girl suffers burns as 'fire and melted plastic kicked at her'

Alyssia-Rae Yates was walking through Blackbrook playing fields at 6pm on Friday, October 11, when she saw a group of younger boys lighting fires and throwing items of plastic into the flames.

As Alyssia and her friends tried to walk past, the 13-year-old said that one boy threw a lighter into the fire and kicked the flames approximately three feet in the air towards their group.

Due to the melted plastic inside the blaze, Alyssia - who is a youth rugby player - was left "screaming in pain" as she suffered serious burns from the red-hot plastic sticking to her legs.

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Alyssia said that a fire full of melted plastic was kicked towards her (Image: Laura Hutton) With Alyssia rushed to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, her mum Laura reported the incident on social media to warn parents and children about the dangers of playing with fires.

Speaking to the Star, Alyssia's mum Laura said: "Alyssia is a lovely, popular kid who would never do anything to hurt anybody.

"She was just trying to get past the fire when the boy kicked it at her. It was completely unprovoked and she was screaming in pain. When we rang 999, we were rushed in an Ambulance to the burns unit at Alder Hey.

"Alyssia keeps saying 'why did this happen to me?' but the nurses said that she was lucky that she was wearing shorts because if she was wearing pants or leggings she potentially could have caught fire."

Some of the Alyssia's burns may permanently scar (Image: Laura Hutton) With Alyssia set for an appointment at Alder Hey this afternoon (Monday, October 14), her mum said she is anxious about the doctor's assessment of her injuries.

"The burns were that bad that Alyssia had to have morphine and gas and air when she was being treated", Laura added.

"She might have to have gas and air again when they remove the dressing, and she could potentially be scarred for life in some areas.

"Alyssia is still in quite a lot of pain and she's finding it difficult not to itch the burns, but all she keeps asking is when she can go back to school and see her friends, or when can she play rugby again.

"She is a very keen rugby player and she hasn't missed a game for Haydock Warriors for 18 months."

Alyssia had to have morphine and gas and air while she was treated for her injuries (Image: Laura Hutton) With Laura reporting the incident to the police, she has also set up a GoFundMe page to support her daughter as the incident has affected her both physically and mentally, and ruined her favourite shorts and trainers. The link to support Alyssia can be found here.

Local Policing Inspector Josh Griffiths said: "Our inquiries continue and I'd encourage anyone with information to come forward as soon as possible. This was a concerning incident and officers will be speaking to the victim and her family to offer support.

"Lighting fires can have catastrophic consequences and we work closely with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service throughout the year to respond to such incidents, and to educate young people about the dangers."

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact @MerpolCC, 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 with reference 24000870193

Alyssia just wants to be back with her friends and playing rugby again (Image: Laura Hutton)