Amanda Redman is one of the UK’s best loved actors. She is also a burns survivor and a long-standing patron for Blond McIndoe.

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When Amanda was 15 months old she was accidently scalded in the kitchen with a pan of boiling soup. This is not uncommon. International research still indicates that the overwhelming majority of childhood burns occur in the home — in the kitchen, in particular. In high-income countries, children under the age of five years old are at the highest risk of hospitalisation from burns. Nearly 75% of burns in young children are from a hot liquid, hot tap water or steam.

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Amanda suffered severe injuries, which left her with third degree burns to 75% of her body. Young children are particularly vulnerable to burn-related injury and death as their skin is thinner than adults’ and can suffer deep burns more quickly. The trauma of Amanda’s injury was so severe that at one point she was pronounced clinically dead.

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She was treated at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead and needed a number of operations as she grew up to heal her injuries. Now, the only part of her body that is still affected is her left arm, where scars run from her shoulder to her elbow.

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Her injuries have not stopped her appearing in a huge range of film, television and stage productions, ranging from period dramas to comedies and gangster films to Shakespeare. Her most recent work has been on BBC1 with the wonderful Sunday evening medical drama ‘The Good Karma Hospital’. As well as appearing in front of the camera, Amanda is also active in encouraging new acting talent — 10 years ago she co-founded Artists’ Theatre School, of which she is also the principal. The school is for all ages and abilities, with classes given by professional working artists with recognised speech and drama qualifications.