Inspirational Singaporean burns survivor Charlene Chew catches Khloe Kardashian's attention

There have been many painful days for Charlene Chew, but today (Oct 11) won't be one of them.

The Singaporean burns survivor and fitness coach woke up this morning to a notification that American model and media personality Khloe Kardashian had left a beautiful comment on her Instagram post.

"You are so strong and courageous! You are absolutely beautiful! You are such an inspiration! Wow, you are so stunning and such a queen. Hold your head high, queen," Khloe, 37, said.

Charlene, who's in her early 20s and has over 47,000 followers on the platform, was understandably thrilled.

She replied: "Oh my god, I woke up to this comment — thank you so much. That's crazy, I've watched all the episodes of (Keeping Up With The Kardashians) and I genuinely can't believe this. YOU are such a queen, thank you so much!!!!"

She also shared her happiness in an Instagram Story.

The post that Khloe saw was uploaded on Aug 6 and has a montage of five photos depicting Charlene's recovery from her devastating burn injury over 10 months.

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Last October, Charlene and her then-boyfriend were frying doughnuts in their Melbourne apartment when the horrific accident happened. In an earlier interview with Vogue Singapore, she said he had forgotten to switch the stove off and the oil was left boiling for an hour or so.

When smoke filled the house, she panicked and dumped the pan of hot oil in the sink, running water over it. The oil exploded in her face, leaving her face, neck, and shoulder with severe burns.

Charlene has had several surgeries and skin grafts since and is currently in Singapore.

In the Instagram caption, she wrote that she never thought she would dare to share those photos for fear of being laughed at. But she did it anyway to give others hope.

"To anyone who has chosen to battle with and heal from internal and/or external scars, you got this. I swear. It's not as glamorous as it sounds. It's disgusting, and it drags you through the mud. And it's hard to practise what you preach at many sticky points, be it in relationships, your healing journey, friendships etc. But progress is worth it," she wrote.

Thankfully, Charlene is progressing in her recovery. In an Instagram video posted two days ago, she said a bad burn on her neck — which required a skin graft — and another burn on her chin have "gone to sleep" and can barely be seen now.

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kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com