Kim Phuc Phan Thai - 9 Year Old Girl in Iconic Vietnam War Photo

In 1972 AP photographer Nick Ut snapped one of the Vietnam War's most memorable images. It showed a 9-year-old girl named Kim Phuc Phan Thai, naked and running through a street after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack.

The girl, Kim Phuc Phan Thai, is now 46 and lives in Toronto, Canada. She spoke of her ordeal recently at a conference of burn survivors in New York City,

"Sixty-five percent of my body got burned," she tells HealthDay in an interview.

The third-degree burns left her face untouched but sheared off every layer of skin on her back and left arm, leaving permanent scars and recurring pain.

With 65% of her body burned, Phuc ( as referred to, according to Vietnamese custom) had to undergo 17 operations. She says she was in the burn unit in Saigon for about 14 months.

"I cannot change something that happened to me already. But I can change the meaning," Phuc says.

Married and mother of two, Phuc is now an inspiration to burn victims worldwide. She is a public speaker, peace activist, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and child welfare advocate.

Here's is a photo of Phuc and Nick Ut meeting in 2009. (via USAtoday).

Photo: Top - by Nick Ut, bottom Hyungwon Kang, Reuters.