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Mum's Urgent Warning As Exploding Hand Sanitiser Burns Daughter's Eyeball

Ciara Sheppard

Published 
| Last updated 

Mum's Urgent Warning As Exploding Hand Sanitiser Burns Daughter's Eyeball

Featured Image Credit: Kennedy

A mum is warning of the dangers of hand gels that have been stored incorrectly, sharing footage of her daughter thrashing around in agony when a bottle left in a hot car exploded and burned her eyeball.

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Alex Chadwick and her 11-year-old daughter Olivia-Layla Chadwick were picking up a prescription from the pharmacy last week when disaster struck.

It was the first time Alex, 37, had driven since lockdown, and as the pair clambered into the family car, which had been sat on the driveway for four weeks in blazing sunshine, Olivia-Layla reached for the hand sanitiser gel.

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When the schoolgirl flipped the cap on the bottle of sweet cherry sanitiser seconds into the drive, it burst upwards, showering her eye in hot gel.

Thinking quickly, first aid instructor Alex abandoned her car and raced her daughter inside to clear away the stinging product.

The accident happened seconds after the mother and daughter began driving off (Credit: Kennedy)
The accident happened seconds after the mother and daughter began driving off (Credit: Kennedy)

The entire ordeal was caught on the family's CCTV, with footage showing the girl writing around in agony on the outdoor sun lounger as dad Steven Chadwick, 40, gently pins her down while mum Alex attempts to rinse her eye out with water.

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After, Olivia-Layla was taken to a walk-in ophthalmologists who confirmed there was burn damage to Olivia-Layla's eyeball but were unable to decipher whether it was caused by the product or simply the force at which it had hit her eyeball.

Alex, a medic at Accrington Stanley, is sharing the footage to highlight the dangers of storing hand gels in hot environments and how to treat chemical burns.

Poor Olivia-Layla was taken outside to the sun lounger, where mum Alex continued rinsing her eye out (Credit: Kennedy)
Poor Olivia-Layla was taken outside to the sun lounger, where mum Alex continued rinsing her eye out (Credit: Kennedy)

"As she flipped the cap on the hand gel it exploded in her eye and she started screaming hysterically," said the mum-of-one from Lancashire.

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"I abandoned the car - left the keys, my phone, everything, in the car - and as we ran inside I shouted for my husband to come and help.

"When I got her in the house I wobbled, I could feel myself going and the tears were starting in my eyes.

"To see you child in so much pain was horrific but I knew I had to stay calm for her, because if I'd started crying because of the pain she was in it would have made her worse.

"It was quite a frightening experience, I don't want anyone else to go through that.

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"To be fair I have no issues with the product, there's no defect, it's our own fault if anything.

"It was very upsetting, luckily I'm a first aid instructor so I knew what to do but like my husband said if I hadn't have known what to do it could have been a lot worse."

Olivia-Layla was in agony (Credit: Kennedy)
Olivia-Layla was in agony (Credit: Kennedy)

After rinsing her eye with cool water from the sink, the couple carried their daughter outside so she could lie down. Here, she was able to direct the water into her eye using a water bottle with a squeezy nozzle.

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"When my husband came down I got the squeezy Vimto bottle out of the cupboard and filled that up," added Alex.

"We put her on one of the sun loungers so we could tilt her head back as when you're bathing an eye you need to make sure it's away from the other eye otherwise the irritant will go into the other eye.

Dad Steven gently held her down while her mum cleaned out her eye (Credit: Kennedy)
Dad Steven gently held her down while her mum cleaned out her eye (Credit: Kennedy)

"I had to be quite tough with her because she was screaming and hitting out with her arms and her legs, she was in so much pain she wanted to get away.

"I had to hold her head and my husband was holding her legs and her arms, although she's 11 she's a dancer and is very strong.

"At the same time we were ringing 111 to get some advice off them because I was concerned about it being a chemical burn.

"I know that chemical burns have to be rinsed for 20 minutes, it was just a case of sticking at it.

"It must have been a good 25 minutes that between us we were pinning her down and trying to rinse this eye out.

"The product had got underneath her eye socket so trying to rinse that underneath was really quite difficult, but at least with the bottle I could aim it into it while restraining her."

Eye doctors confirmed she'd suffered a burn to her eye (Credit: Kennedy)
Eye doctors confirmed she'd suffered a burn to her eye (Credit: Kennedy)

After the PH levels in Olivia-Layla's eyes were checked, eye doctors confirmed she had some damage and she was prescribed an eye cream that needs to be put inside her eye four times a day for a week to protect it as it heals.

"Rinsing her eye for 20 minutes felt like forever but timing is very important, it will make all the difference," said the first aid expert.

"I keep a little squeezy bottle in my cupboard to direct a jet of water to where it's needed for exactly that purpose.

"I would advise people to look online at first aid information for general household incidents.

"There are apps too, which you can flick through and you can go on a course - they're open to anybody."

The family are now sending out a warning (Credit: Kennedy)
The family are now sending out a warning (Credit: Kennedy)

"When we came inside I put my head over the sink and Mum was washing it out. It felt like it was burning, like it was on fire.

"It was really stinging as she was putting the water in because of the stuff that was in my eye.

"Now when I don't put the cream in it gets itchy and burns in the corner and underneath inside my eye.

"The cream is alright but when it's left in I have to close my eye and it stings because of the burn that's in my eye.

"I'm still able to watch my favourite TV shows including Friends, Most Ridiculous and Impractical Jokers."

Olivia-Layla, 11, is thankfully on the mend (Credit: Kennedy)
Olivia-Layla, 11, is thankfully on the mend (Credit: Kennedy)

Alex says she has "no issue" with the hand sanitiser brand - Enliven - and conceded the problem was it being left in a hot car.

An Enliven spokesman said it is important to ensure the product is stored below 40 degrees celsius in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.

Topics: Life News, Real

Ciara Sheppard
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