Bali burns doctor named top Aussie

Bali burns doctor named top Aussie

AUSTRALIA: The daughter of a Yorkshire miner who pioneered a revolutionary treatment for burns patients and used it successfully to treat victims of the Bali bomb blasts has been named Australian of the Year.

Perth-based plastic surgeon Fiona Wood shot to prominence after the October 2002 blasts with her use of a spray-on skin to help dozens of critically burnt bomb victims to recover in a quarter of the time it would normally take.

The treatment, which is still under development, also leaves patients with far less scarring than is normally associated with severe burns.

Prime Minister John Howard presented the award to Wood on late Tuesday in a ceremony on the lawns of Canberra's Parliament House.

"Trail-blazing burns treatment, mother of six children, a clearly happy and united family, wonderfully vivacious and vital woman -- I think she'll be a wonderful ambassador," Howard said. --AFP