Woman left in a wheelchair for weeks as she suffered third-degree burns after using common period pain relief
Many people, myself included, are addicted to their hot water bottles.
Most winter nights seem incomplete without our rubber bottles full of hot water keeping us company.
Yet it seems we should be proceeding with caution, as the devastating story of one person proves.
Jade Parsons-Mayle, a carer, suffered such horrific burns in January 2023 that she was left wheelchair-bound for weeks and scarred for life when her hot water bottle exploded after she had settled in for a cosy evening.
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Her hot water bottle was supposedly safe to use, judging by the use-by dates.
Jade was left unable to walk for more than a month after her hot water bottle ruptured, burning her legs and groin.
The 33-year-old had tucked her hot water bottle into the waistband of her pyjama bottoms, in an effort to ease her period pains.
Just moments later the bottle exploded beneath Jade's pyjamas - unleashing a nightmare of boiling hot water onto her lower stomach, groin, legs, buttocks and genitals.
Jade, from Ealing, Cambridgeshire, said she 'collapsed on the kitchen floor and woke up to her wife Jules ushering her to the bathroom.'
The staff of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridgeshire were in for a shock as Jade was rushed in, before being referred to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford for specialist treatment on her burns.
Whilst there, Jade underwent a gruelling skin graft operation and had to rely on a wheelchair for over a month as her first, second and third-degree burns healed.
Jade's skin is now scarred for life.
Jade, who is married to 42-year-old Jules Parsons-Mayle, said she will 'never use a hot water bottle again', and wants there to be more awareness over their use.
Jade said: "I was at home and had my hot water bottle against my stomach. I had period pains and use it a lot in the winter. I tucked it under my pyjama bottoms directly onto my skin.
"I was in the kitchen just sorting things out then it burst. I didn't really realise what had happened. The side had ruptured in it. I had filled it with boiling water.
"Luckily my wife was home and knew what to do. I don't think I realised what it was. I was just in excruciating pain. I passed out onto the floor for a few seconds. My wife got me to come into the bath and covered me in cold water.
"Funnily enough two months before I had checked the date of my hot water bottle and it was still in date by months but still ruptured."
Jade's shocking accident meant she had to endure a skin graft two weeks later due to the severity of her burns.
She was left unable to walk or go to to work.
Jade said: "I couldn't really walk or anything - I had to use a wheelchair to allow it to heal. I had no idea how much damage hot water could cause.
"It was difficult to sleep - it was really itchy and the smell was unbearable. I had different levels of burns on different areas of my body.
"I had first degree in some areas of my leg then the worst bit of my leg was third degree where I had the skin graft.
"I wasn't allowed to walk after the skin graft and was in a wheelchair at home. I don't really wear a skirt or anything anymore. I think if I was a younger girl, it would've impacted me more.
"I get nerve pain now and I have to be a lot more careful with heat and being out in the sun. I can't feel temperature in that area much anymore so have to be cautious with hot baths and things."
While it has now been over a year since her horrific accident, Jade is passionate in advocating for the risks of hot water bottles to be much more widely understood.
Jade declared: "I'll never use [a hot water bottle] again. I think there needs to be clearer labelling about the risks and the temperatures you should be using.
"It should be a bit like smoking where the risks are clearly shown to you.
"It can cause life-changing injuries. I know more and more people are using them because of the cost of living. It's scary. When I was in hospital they said it was a really common burn.
"I feel really lucky. I'm not as fazed by the scars as being older. You never think something like this will happen to you."
Kya Buller