“‘If I Birthed Six Kids, I’m Getting Six Kids Out’: Swedish Mother Emma Schols Ran Through Fire to Rescue Her Children and Survived 93% Burns Against All Odds”
One soft September morning in 2019, Emma Schols’s life changed forever. Her house in Edsbyn, Sweden, erupted in flames while she slept, leaving no time to think—only to act. In her skivvies, she barreled downstairs after hearing her four-year-old son shout “fire.” In the smoky chaos, she found two of her youngest cowering in the playroom. With no hesitation, she bent over them so they wouldn’t be caught in the blaze, and through the explosion that greeted her at the front door, she protected them. She barked for them to go to the neighbor. Then, before allowing herself a breath, she threw herself right back into the house.
Upstairs, she knew four more children were trapped. The staircase was on fire, the air a thick, choking soup. Every step felt impossible, her skin melting, her soles detaching. And yet, she kept going, because they were her children. On the balcony, she found her older children already escaping—her nine-year-old daughter had jumped, her eleven-year-old son had lowered a ladder, and two others were waiting to climb down. But baby Mollie, just one year old, lay terrified in her crib.
Emma’s strength didn’t come from anywhere but love. She crawled through smoke, found her daughter, gathered her in her arms, and climbed down step by step. The ladder was hot under her bleeding feet. She fainted only after placing all six of them safely outside.
What followed was months sandwiched between life and death. Emma was rushed to the burn unit in Uppsala, where she hovered between the lines of survival. After three weeks on a respirator, she endured countless skin grafts, battled infections, and fought pneumonia. Medical professionals told her family that surviving burns over 90% of the body was nearly unheard of. Emma bore 93% burns and survived.
When she finally came off sedation, the first thought on her mind wasn’t how she felt—pain or disfigured—it was whether her kids were okay. Slowly, her children came to visit. Her youngest daughter didn’t recognize her at first—Emma looked so different, so changed by flames and trauma. But love healed recognition.
It wasn’t just Emma’s survival that stunned people—it was her drive to return to normalcy. She wanted to help with school drop-offs. She wanted to play. She wanted to ride horses again. She wanted to be Emma. And against every expectation, she did it. The rehabilitation was agonizing, but Emma, driven by gratitude and purpose, recovered faster than anyone expected.
She became known across Sweden not just as a survivor, but as a hero. At the Swedish Heroes Gala in 2020, Emma was named “Lifeguard of the Year.” In interviews, she recalled how she thought, “I can’t do this,” with each step in the fire—but then remembered, “I must do this,” because four children were still upstairs and one baby was alone. It was love that gave her “superpowers,” she said.
Today, Emma lives in a temporary home while her house is being rebuilt. Every day she spends with her children feels sacred. She plays games, imagines new adventures, and never takes a moment for granted. She still trains—slowly, deliberately—and sometimes, while laughing with her kids, remembers the inferno she walked through. But more than anything, she feels gratitude. Gratitude for life. Gratitude that she was able to bring all her children out alive.
Emma’s story is hard to believe, and even harder to forget. A moment—just minutes long—almost ended everything. But it didn’t. And now, she and her children share a bond forged in flames and love. That bond is a reminder of what a mother will do—and of the strength we find when our world is burning around us.
