Kieran was a month shy of turning six when in September 2017 he was making porridge on the gas stove - something the youngest of four kids had done many times.

Mum Tania said when her son spun around, the corner of his flannelette pyjamas caught the edge of the flame and ignited.

"As I was walking back into the kitchen area the kids were screaming and all I could see was Kieran running towards my bathroom ... calling out for me and flames billowing behind him off his pyjamas," she said.

"He just panicked and ran as a five-year-old would do and I was running behind him going: 'stop drop roll'.

"Eventually I caught him and, in his words, I threw him to the ground."

Instinct kicked in for Mrs Nevill, who is trained in first aid.

After putting out the flames and taking off his pyjamas, she put Kieran under a cold shower until the ambulance arrived.

"He was screaming," Ms Nevill said.

"He ended up with pretty severe burns to his right flank," she said.

"His whole skin was this big blister."

Royal Children's Hospital burns surgeon Warwick Teague said it was important to immediately douse a burn in cold water for at least 20 minutes.

Ambulance officers initially thought Kieran had burns to up to 15 per cent of his body, but it turned out to be five per cent.

Because of the intensity of the burn, an air ambulance was called.

The air ambulance landed on their Nullawarre property and Kieran was flown to the Royal Children's Hospital, arriving there on a Wednesday which just happened to be "burns clinic day" at the hospital.

Kieran had suffered a full-thickness burn to the right side of his torso.

After waiting to see which bits of his skin would "survive", doctors then performed a skin graft two weeks later by taking skin from Kieran's right leg.

Mrs Nevill said none of his burnt skin had survived so they had to use almost all of the grafted skin.

"It was a big skin graft," she said.

"The graft area was larger than they'd originally hoped would have been needed."

The ordeal meant 18 months of visits to the Royal Children's Hospital which were at first weekly trips to Melbourne and then became fortnightly, then monthly and eventually every six months.

His last visit to the Royal Children's Hospital was in February, and the only ongoing treatment is now moisturising the scar a few times a week.

Mrs Nevill said it probably took about four months, but Kieran was back cooking his own porridge.

"He didn't even want to eat porridge at first," she said.

Despite what he went through, Mrs Nevill said Kieran hasn't been traumatised.

Last year, Mrs Nevill and Kieran were asked by his surgeon to be part of a presentation on burns management that was being broadcast worldwide.

They were then approached by Kidsafe Victoria to share their story to help launch this month's burns awareness month campaign.

Data from the Burns Registry of Australia and New Zealand shows nearly 1000 children from both countries were admitted to hospital with burns in 2016/17.

Scalds were the most common types of burns, followed by contact and flame burns.

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.