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Mum shares heartbreaking photo to WARN other parents.

A toddler has been left with devastating burns after she poured her mother’s cup of scalding tea over her face.

One-year-old Libbie Patterson grabbed the mug from a kitchen table at home, shares Daily Mail.

She splashed the boiling tea over her head, face, shoulders and back and immediately began screaming in agony.

Her distraught mother called an ambulance and the toddler was rushed to hospital.

She spent three nights being treated for burns but medics hope her face – which was left disfigured – will not be permanently scarred.

Now her mother, Emma Patterson, 24, has released a picture of Libbie’s injuries to warn other parents about the dangers of hot drinks.

The mother-of-three said: ‘The cup was close to the edge of the work surface and she reached up and grabbed it. It went over her face, shoulders, stomach and back.

‘She screamed and started to cry. I stripped her off and doused her in cold towels after I called for an ambulance and she was still screaming.

‘Libbie’s face was starting to peel and blister and it wasn’t a nice sight. They had to shave her head and she was in a bad way.

‘The doctors have said that she will scar on her shoulders but nowhere else and that’s quite lucky. The doctors said that it could have blinded her and scarred all of her face.

‘She is being herself now and her skin just needs to heal a bit more. If I hadn’t made that cup of tea, it wouldn’t have happened.

‘It is amazing how making a cup of tea can have such devastating consequences.

‘I want to make parents aware of how easily things like this can happen.

‘We didn’t have a child gate on the kitchen but I do now. I’ve learned all the lessons.

‘Parents need to watch where their children are when making hot drinks. I am horrified by the situation.

‘I pour water from a kettle now and it’s all I can think about.’

Hot beverage scalds are the number one cause of burn injury in children and it can happen to anyone at any time.

It is recommended you put your baby in a playpen or highchair when you’re drinking something hot. Don’t have hot drinks when holding or breastfeeding a baby or child.

Use spill-proof mugs with wide bases and narrow rims. This reduces the risk of scalds – but it doesn’t get rid of the risk altogether.

Use placemats instead of a tablecloth to help stop hot food and drinks spilling on your child. Children sometimes tug on tablecloths, which brings everything down on top of them.

Related story – It took just seconds for this toddler’s life to be changed forever

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  • Thanks for reminding us all …praying for a speedy recovery.

    Reply

  • These types of incidents occur so easily.

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  • At 18mo, my now 21yo pulled a bowl of super hot soup on himself. I turned my back for a second and that is all it takes! He was lucky to have no scarring though I always had to make sure he was covered thoroughly when out in the sun after he healed.

    Reply

  • Oh bless !! My 3 yr old grabs anything and everything she can as well. So scary !!
    Hope Libbie recovers well !

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  • So much damage from a cuppa! I always put my hot drinks up high or way back on benches. I also gave my pot handles on the stove turned away from the edge. Little kids are so quick

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  • kids are so fast to grab at everything! A speedy recovery to her x

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  • Hot drinks can be so harmful. In particular with young kids. What a terrible accident! :-(

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  • It’s shocking how quickly accidents can happen.

    Reply

  • Little ones have to be taller than just pulling a tablecloth but they can also pull place mats too.
    It is also a good idea to have wide high benches against the wall so you can put items as close to the wall as possible. I know people who were in house which had narrow benches and a toddler pulled an electric kettle down by hooking one finger in it. They didn’t even know she could stand on tippy toes prior to that. Her Mother jumped under a cold shower with her fully dressed, during which time she took the little girl’s clothes off for approx.10 minutes dried her very gently, then wrapped her in a clean sheet while her older daughter rang for an Ambulance which arrived by the time the toddler was wrapped in the sheet. The toddler spent approx. 3 weeks in hospital, then was isolated to one room so that she couldn’t “catch anything” from the other children wjho talked to her via a window. Re safety gates: be careful you don’t accidentally trip on the bottom rail that fits close to the floor or you could have a very nasty fall.

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