NAME: NAHOMI BARRAGAN-CARMONA
CONDITION: BURNS
LOCATION: NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Dr. Nahomi Barragan-Carmona reunited with her former physician and mentor Dr. David Greenhalgh.
When flames engulfed 16-year-old Nahomi Barragan-Carmona in a kitchen accident in Mexico, local doctors told her devastated family she wouldn’t survive. With burns covering 70% of her body, her fate seemed certain – until her uncle, a firefighter, arranged her transfer to Shriners Children’s Northern California, home to one of the world’s premier pediatric burn centers.
Nearly two decades later, Nahomi Barragan-Carmona, M.D., returned to the very hospital that saved her life – not as a patient, but as a physician determined to bring world-class burn care back to Mexico. Her remarkable journey from survivor to healer stands as a testament to the transformative power of expert medical care.
A flight for survival
Following her injury, young Nahomi was airlifted from Tijuana to Sacramento, where she was treated by David Greenhalgh, M.D., then chief of burns at Shriners Children’s Northern California. For three grueling months, Nahomi underwent multiple skin graft surgeries and intensive physical therapy. She also received psychological support from child life specialists. Her father documented the experience in a diary, writing movingly about the comprehensive care: “Here, they heal more than just wounds – they heal hearts and futures.”
During her recent month-long training at Shriners Children’s Northern California, Dr. Barragan-Carmona worked alongside the same medical team that once treated her, focusing on critical burn care protocols rarely practiced in Mexican hospitals. “In Mexico, most burn patients die from shock in emergency rooms, not from their actual injuries,” she explains. “At Shriners Children’s, I learned the precise fluid resuscitation techniques that can prevent these needless deaths.”
Carrying it forward
Now an emergency physician in Mexico, Dr. Barragan-Carmona is determined to transform burn care in her home country. Her journey illustrates how Shriners Children’s fulfills all three pillars of its mission – providing world-class care, conducting life-changing research and educating the next generation of medical professionals.
