Kim Phuc Phan Thi, who was known as the "Napalm Girl" and severely injured and burned in the Vietnam War as a nine-year-old, receives the Dresden Peace Prize on Monday. Her photo, taken by associate press photographer Nick Ut, was around the world and led to a change of heart in the US regarding the Vietnam War.

On June 8, 1972, Napalm and burning phosphorus were attacked by a South Vietnamese bomber attacking them and their village of Trang Bàng. For Phuc a day she survived scarce but severely damaged in body and soul. And the moment that has since determined her life.

AP / Nick Ut

Napalm attack on Trang Báng on June 8, 1972

"I wanted to die," she says today. The photographer who made her famous was also involved in her rescue. He poured water on her and took her to a hospital.

His later honored with the Pulitzer Prize endures Phuc better in society today. "When I'm alone, I avoid the picture," says the 55-year-old. "But I can work with it for peace, that's my vision."

For many years she has been involved in reconciliation and has taken care of children from war zones with her own foundation. For this she gets awarded the prize of 10,000 euros in Dresden.

"My dream is to help make the world a better place to live." As a UN ambassador, she travels a lot, though her scars sometimes burn like fire. She tells her story and speaks for children, "who have no voice".

Since 2002, its foundation has been building schools, orphanages and medical facilities worldwide. The latest project: a library for children in the village, where she became the "Napalm Girl". "Education is so important, every child must have the chance to learn."

AP

Phuc in an exhibition in Los Angeles, 1996

Back in the summer of 1972, when the South Vietnamese Army, which was allied with the US, falsely bombarded Phuc's village with napalm, Phuc suffered third-degree burns on half of her body. She was hospitalized for 14 months and then underwent frequent surgery. To this day, she continues to undergo therapies to make her scars bearable. "After the last one, they only hurt half as much."

The Communist rulers, who recognized the power of the image, had presented them as propaganda victims of war. After a treatment in Germany, Phuc studied Cuba, first pharmacy, then languages, and got to know her husband.

"I did not believe that a man loves and marries me, I thought I would never lead a normal life." With him, she went to Canada for asylum, now it is her home. "I can live freely there and feel safe." With Vietnam, where her siblings live, she only connects the terrible childhood. "But I do not forget my origins."