Mother Shares Horrifying Pictures Of Toddler’s Burns After Pulling A Jug Of Boiling Water Over Himself

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A young Mom shared shocking pictures of her toddler’s dreadful burns, to warn of dangers in the home after the boy tipped a jug of boiling water over himself.

Two-year-old, Eric Ward, had to undergo emergency surgery to have skin on his face, back and torso removed just days before his second birthday.

The incident occurred when a family member who had been caring for Eric was making up a bottle for him.

She had moved to take away a glass bowl Eric had pulled from a drawer but, as she did that, the toddler grabbed the bottle and poured the boiling water over himself.

His Mom, Lucy Smillie,  who had been on a driving lesson at the time of the accident, described the incident as ‘absolutely heart-breaking’ as her son had to undergo emergency treatment.

She has now shared heartbreaking pictures of Eric’s agonizing burns to raise awareness of what to do in such a nightmarish scenario.

After the incident on March 8, Eric has to be covered in cream four times a day and wears a pressure vest to try and flatten the scarring.Smillie, from Uckfield in East Sussex, UK, said:

‘I was on a driving lesson, and [the unnamed family member] was watching him while my fiancé Adam and I weren’t home.She was putting on a bottle of milk for him, and as she was putting it on he had opened up the bottom drawer and taken out a glass bowl.She put the jug on the side and then as she went to take the bowl away he’s literally gone right behind her, seen the bottle, and just gone for it and pulled the boiling water all over himself.I got a phone call from Adam saying there had been an accident and I need to get back home. He had no idea how bad it was.My driving instructor drove me back, and I just saw an ambulance and helicopter. It was all really scary.I could hear Eric crying from outside the ambulance. It was a worse cry than normal.He looked red like he had been crying – he goes very red anyway. It didn’t look nice but it was nothing like how he looked when he came out of surgery later.’

Eric was taken to Tunbridge Wells hospital he was then transferred to Chelsea and Westminster hospital to receive emergency treatment.

After 2 hours in surgery, the parents were devastated at the sight of their son bandaged up ‘like a mummy’. The Mother said:

‘We were in absolute bits. It was just the worst thing in the world.

‘He came back and he was wrapped up, he looked like a little mummy. I broke down. It was scary. You don’t think something like that is going to happen.

‘I think his face looked the worst, I couldn’t see it ever getting any better, I thought he wasn’t ever going to get his normal face back. We didn’t know to what extent the scarring was going to be.

‘The doctors said the surgery went really well, and said we’d done everything we had to do.

‘We all stayed in hospital for just over a week, but when we got sent home is when it started to get even harder.’

When they got home the couple, had to take it turns to change their son’s bandages three times a day which made him scream in agony.

‘We had to put cream on his face and pull the scabs. His face would be bleeding. It was absolutely heart-breaking.

‘It was so hard to not cry in front of him. We just had to be strong. I don’t know how we did it, we just had to do it together. It was a struggle for both of us.

‘For the first few days he wasn’t really himself. He wouldn’t speak, he was in complete shock. It was really hard and really hurtful to see.

‘We had to keep him from being outside for two months because of the risk of infection, and he’s a very big adventurer so that was hard.’

The parents have started to see a gradual improvement in Eric’s injuries after a few months and Eric’s mother is now keen to raise awareness of what to do in such a scenario.

She said: ‘If it does happen and the child has clothes on, then don’t take them off because that’s going to make it worse.

‘Put them straight in tepid water, not cold water, because that will send their little bodies into shock. Then call an ambulance.

‘Eric had just been wearing a nappy. My family member had thrown water on him straight away and then ran the bath and put him in.

‘I don’t know if I would have thought to have done that. If she hadn’t it could have been so much worse. She saved him.’

She added: ‘It was very bad for her, it still is now. She was trying to stop him from hurting himself with something else, and that’s the thing, it can happen to anyone.I would like people to see that it can happen to anybody. You don’t think until after it’s happened.If she had been sitting there on her phone while this happened then I would be angry, but she was trying to stop him hurting himself.’Eric now has to wear a pressure vest for the next two years. It looks a bit like a swim suit. It puts pressure on the scar and flattens it.For the next two years we have to do his cream four times a day. If we don’t do that, his shoulders won’t grow with the rest of his body. He doesn’t say anything about it, but now and again he will go and look in the mirror and look at himself and touch his scar. Then he’ll just walk off.If I can raise some awareness and save one person from going through this by sharing these pictures then it’s worth it.’