How a cup of tea caused the worst day in my life

[benc]

Guys,

I thought some of you may be interested to see the damage a cup of tea can do.

On tuesday, I stupidly left a cup of tea on the table in the kitchen while opening the back door to go and do my work.. on the way back to the table, I got distracted for about 10 seconds... what I hadnt realised is my 14month old son had quickly crawled accross the room, stood up at the table... and pulled the tea down... he screamed the loudest scream I have every heard and my girlfriend and I ran to him,, grabbed him, saw the tea had spilt on him and upon taking his clothes off, we saw the worst site we've ever seen.. his chest was bright red, and it looked like the skin had just all melted


The tea hit him mainly on the chest, and splashed under his chin and on to his hand.. we called 999, and an ambulance arrived, he was wrapped up in cling film and we were taken to southampton general hospital, on arrival he had to have a shot of morphine to deal with the pain, the burns were checked and we were then sent over to Salisbury District hospitals burns unit.

His burns were checked by a nurse, and a plastic surgeon... he had deep tissue damage on a small area on his chest, and mainly superficial burns elsewhere

He was then redressed and then we spent the rest of the day waiting around for him to get a slot in theatre so the burns could be properly cleaned, and have a special biological dressing called Biobrane to help repair the deep tissue damage. We spent the next few days in hospital, and finally arrived home late on friday night.

He has been checked out by several doctors, and they say the wounds are healing well, but only time will tell. We have to go back and visit the hospital this coming week and have the dressings changed again...

I just want people to be aware why it is so important to put hot drinks well out of the way of children, until we saw this we never realised a cup of tea would do so much damage in such a short time.. his clothes were off within 30 seconds of it happening and he was having cold water poured on him.

I've attached a picture which was taken on friday morning when he had the dressings changed.

[chewy]

Glad he's going to be ok, know what he's going through, not pleasent at all.
Good old NHS!

Hows he getting on now?

[Hightower]

I really feel for you. That's a horrible burn! I hope he makes a full recovery with no scaring. Just goes to show you how quick children can get around. My Son fell down the stairs 3 separate times and we had a stair gate in place and closed on each occasion. He just managed to launch himself over the top of the gate

Try not to blame yourself as accidents do happen, it's impossible to keep things safe for children 100% of the time. Besides! Children always seem to have a knack of finding that 1% of times that you forget or don't realise there's a problem.

[benc]

Originally Posted by chewy

Glad he's going to be ok, know what he's going through, not pleasent at all.
Good old NHS!

Hows he getting on now?

He is doing well - we had to go back to the hospital 11pm last night because he woke up, and decided to pull off the dressing on his hand, I went into his room to check on him, and he had the special wet guaze stuck to his face, and the bandage handing around his wrist! - little git.

They said his hand is healing well, and doesnt need the dressing on now, which is a bonus.

Its hard getting him to take his pain killers, so we're having to put it into his milk for him to take

[benc]

Originally Posted by Hightower

I really feel for you. That's a horrible burn! I hope he makes a full recovery with no scaring. Just goes to show you how quick children can get around. My Son fell down the stairs 3 separate times and we had a stair gate in place and closed on each occasion. He just managed to launch himself over the top of the gate

Try not to blame yourself as accidents do happen, it's impossible to keep things safe for children 100% of the time. Besides! Children always seem to have a knack of finding that 1% of times that you forget or don't realise there's a problem.

Its so hard not to blame myself... if I had moved it back on the table, even 10 cm, he would have been able to reach it... im just grateful I had white tea, and not black coffee like I normally do!

He's only just got over a day 10 day stint of sickness and diorrhea... he was well for about 1 day before this happened

[biffer]

Originally Posted by benc

Its so hard not to blame myself... if I had moved it back on the table, even 10 cm, he would have been able to reach it... im just grateful I had white tea, and not black coffee like I normally do!

He's only just got over a day 10 day stint of sickness and diorrhea... he was well for about 1 day before this happened

don't blame yourself, my nippers 36 and believe me you'll have plenty of time to blame yourself for something he's done, kids are tougher than you think, couple of week's time he'll be rampaging around again, just don't make him into a cotton wool kid eh!

[benc]

Originally Posted by biffer

don't blame yourself, my nippers 36 and believe me you'll have plenty of time to blame yourself for something he's done, kids are tougher than you think, couple of week's time he'll be rampaging around again, just don't make him into a cotton wool kid eh!

Oh believe me, he is already rampaging around! He was up to his normal tricks a day or so after, once the several doses of morphine had worn off! He's not letting it affect him too much... even when he first had his hand bandaged (looked like a boxing glove) he still managed to crawl around and pick things up with the tips of his fingers

[BLACKSTORM]

I would just like to wish him a speedy recovery as any one on here does

[JSP]

I've got 7 kids and I know exactly how quickly accidents can happen.
I wish your little boy a speedy recovery and I hope you don't beat yourself up to much over it.

[Jimbo]

Ben, that's really bad news - I can't guess how you and your girlfriend must have been feeling at the time, not to mention your lad.

All the best for his speedy recovery.

[stafs]

Great to hear he has bounced back and recovering well. As has been said many times don't blame yourself and yes I know it's easyer said than done but we have all been there and in time it will be a great story to tell and by the time he is 15 you will be able to turn it round to being his fault.
My thoughts are with him,your girlfriend and you.

[HUMBER P4VWL]

Thoughts are with you. Got our first due in 3 months, every tip helps, will try and be aware, thanks for sharing.

[Bigmuz7]

Yeah just a humble cup of tea eh ? .. poor lad .. and poor you too, Ben .. dont beat yourself up about it .. many wouldnt have beleived it was possible to get such a burn from a mug of the stuff, but I think its good you posted just to show how easy it can be.. I had a few scrapes in my time as a nipper its just kids innit ? He'll be fine .. just put it down to a life experience

[Steve_B]

Ben

Sorry the 3 of you had to go through this experience and though he may bear the physical scars for a while, times like these make you stronger as a family.

I have 3 "boys" of 17 and older, who have all had a few scrapes over the years. As a parent you learn what the risks are by experience and not from any book, so try to move on, you wont do it a second time!

On a positive note, he may have a few minor battle scars to show girlfriends in about 15+ years time ......

Steve

[Knot Yet]

Ben - glad to hear he is fixing well and as already said try hard not to blame yourself - that's why it was an accident.

I managed to poor a pan of boiling milk on myself at his age - my Dad had left if hanging over the cooker - I clearly don't remember but I have no scare etc - looking at my own monster son it seems the younger you are the quicker and cleaner you heal - nowdays I only have to get a paper cut and it takes months to stop hurting

Thansk for sharing - it's really easy to forget how nibble and quick the little ones can be

[Mollers]

The Wife's cousin did the same thing with a teapot at a similar age. He still has slight scaring at age 40+. Don't beat yourself up, accidents happen.

[Chris]

Kids skin is amazingly quick to repair, you will be suprised at how quickly that dissapears.

I know how you feel with the whole hospital experience, I had to go through a Meningitis scare with our 4 year old about 2 years ago (turned out to be a bad throat infection).

[Nasher]

Ben

I really sorry to hear that this accident has happened, and wish your little boy the very best for a speedy and full recovery.

As others have said accidents will happen, but that’s no consolation when it’s happened to your child.
I really don’t think you should blame yourself, if we made our homes completely child friendly 100% of the time we’d live in padded cells and the kids would grow up scared of everything and unable to look after themselves.

I could sit here and say that as a parent I understand how I’d feel in your situation, but I’m sure you think at the moment that nobody can imagine what you are going through. I certainly do know how I’ve felt when my kids have been hurt or are ill, and wished it was me instead of them.

The very best thing you can do for him now is show him how much you love him, make him as comfortable as possible, and not let him pick up on the distress you and your other half are going through.

Please pass on our best wishes, and know that we are thinking of your family during this dfficult time.

Nasher

[two stroke mick]

Hi Benc

I feel very sorry for you. I have a wee girl 14 mths old. Twice minor items have occured due to the fact that I was not paying attention. When it happens you feel like the greatest bollox in the world. Dont worry it will pass as long as the child is ok thats all that matters

All the best

TSM.

It was a good thing to post as it makes every one aware of the dangers

[benc]

Thanks for the kind words guys. We go for a check up tomorrow so we will see how its healing.