Girl, 7, rushed to hospital with 'extreme blister' burns after squishy toy incident
A seven-year-old girl was rushed to hospital with blisters after an 'unheated' squishy toy exploded onto her hands, her mum claims.
In recent months, ‘squishy toys’ have become the latest craze, with both children and adults forking out to collect everything from ‘butter squishies’ to dumpling-shaped mystery toys, and of course, NeeDoh Cubes.
However, several children have suffered serious burns amid a dangerous trend of heating the toys in the microwave, in an attempt to make them softer and easier to squeeze.
But, in the latest injury case, mum René Barnard, 46, says her daughter Livi didn’t heat up the £12.99 NeeDoh toy and was simply left with burns after the seal broke and the liquid inside leaked onto her hand.
Advert
The support worker from Telford and mum-of-two said: “She loves this NeeDoh.
“We came in, and I was cooking dinner in the kitchen and pottering around by the sink. She was at the kitchen table, and she was like ‘Mum, the liquid’s come out and it’s burnt my hand’.”
She quickly ran her daughter’s hand under the tap, but when the pain continued and blisters began to form, René decided to call 111, who told them to go to hospital immediately.
After advice was sought from Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Livi’s wounds were dressed, and she was sent home, before returning the next day to have her blisters removed.
The seven-year-old is now visiting doctors daily to have her wounds re-dressed while they heal.
René said: "She is a tough tomboy seven-year-old so when she said it started to really hurt I knew something was wrong."
She added: “As they have no burns unit in Telford, they had to take pictures and send them to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
“We were then asked to go back the next day so they could treat her blisters, which required gas and air, and I now have to take her to the doctors every day to have the dressing changed.
"People were coming in, doctors with children, to the room to have a look and saying they will tell their wives to bin them [NeeDoh toys], that sort of thing.”
She urged: “I’ll be keeping them separate in temperatures like we’ve had and keep them in the fridge. All the kids are playing with them at the moment.
“But if this was a toddler it could have been really serious - thankfully Livi’s nine-year-old brother is not interested in the toys."
Bigjigs Toys, the exclusive UK distributor for NeeDoh, which is made by US firm Schylling, said it was investigating the incident.
A spokesperson said: “We take all issues like this very seriously but we are aware of a number of fake products on the market so we have to determine if this was a real NeeDoh.”
Tyla has contacted Bigjigs Toys for further comment.
Madison Burgess