My little girl was horrifically burnt after accident – I’m sharing photos of her injuries so parents know how to act
A MUM has shared devastating photos of her little girl’s hands after she fell into a fire pit while camping.
The tot called Dusty was rushed to a shower, where her mum ensured cold running water rushed over her daughters searing hands and arms.
“Her skin peeled and fell to my feet,” the mum explained.
“But instead of having double actions I knew we were doing all we could in that moment,” she said.
Previous research has found that cool running water can minimise the extent or depth of the burn and speed up healing.
Almost a year after the horrific accident, the parents are still taking their child to hospital for weekly skin grafting to rebuild her hands.
A skin graft is where healthy skin is removed from an unaffected area of the body and used to cover lost or damaged skin.
The anonymous mum, who sent her story to the TinyHeartsEducation Instagram page, said Dusty was “doing well and there has been lots of progression.”
The mum hopes the pictures will serve as a reminder to parents to be “vigilant” ahead of camping season and ensure fires are put out and sealed off.
“Sometimes it’s important to share so mums and dads can see that these terrible accidents can happen so quickly,” she said.
Dusty’s story can also help raise awareness of how burns ought to be treated, the mum added.
Not long before the accident, the mum had read a post from the first aider at TinyHeartsEducation on how to treat burns.
“This meant I was able to react fast and confidently that running water was the best,” she said.
“Previously, I had always thought submerging in a bath was best,” she added.
Preventing burns and scalds
Many severe burns and scalds affect babies and young children.
The NHS says there are a number of things you can do to help reduce the likelihood of your child having a serious accident at home including:
- keeping your child out of the kitchen whenever possible
- testing the temperature of bath water using your elbow before you put your baby or toddler in the bath
- keeping matches, lighters and lit candles out of young children’s sight and reach
- keeping hot drinks well away from young children
Meanwhile, teachers have been warned to watch children when outside after a pupil suffered horrific third-degree burns after touching ‘UK’s most dangerous plant’.
The young tot had been playing in Longsight Park in the Harwood area of Manchester when she touched the hazardous wild flowering plant in October.
She was rushed to A&E – prompting her primary school to issue an urgent warning.
The dangerous plant often grows along hedgerows and looks like cow-parsley, making it even more dangerous to unsuspecting walkers.