A seven-year-old girl was rushed to hospital with blisters after an unheated squishy toy exploded onto her hands, her mother claims. Several children have suffered serious burns amid a dangerous trend of heating the toys in the microwave to make them softer, but mum René Barnard says her daughter Livi did not heat the £12.99 NeeDoh toy.
Incident Details
According to Barnard, the seal broke and the liquid inside leaked onto Livi's hand, causing burns. Despite immediately running it under cold water, blisters began to form. Barnard called NHS 111 and took Livi to Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, Shropshire. After consulting Birmingham Children's Hospital, Livi's wounds were dressed, and she was sent home. She returned the next day to have her blisters removed and now visits doctors daily for re-dressing.
Mum's Account
Barnard, a support worker from Telford, said: “She came in from school on Monday and it was on the kitchen side. She loves this NeeDoh. I was cooking dinner and she said 'mum, the liquid’s come out and it’s burnt my hand.'” Barnard Googled the toy and found it was labeled non-toxic. “Every time she took her hand out of the cold water she was really in pain. She is a tough tomboy seven-year-old, so when she said it started to really hurt I knew something was wrong.”
Hospital Response
As Telford has no burns unit, hospital staff took pictures and sent them to Birmingham Children's Hospital. Livi required gas and air for blister treatment. Barnard noted that doctors told their wives to discard the toys. “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.”
Distributor Investigation
Bigjigs Toys, the exclusive UK distributor for NeeDoh (made by US firm Schylling), said it is 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.”
