A Sydney mother has detailed her nightmare ordeal after her young son spent 11 hours in hospital with chemical burns when a Kmart toy broke and spilt liquid on his foot.
Caitlin Elizabeth told 7NEWS.com.au on Saturday afternoon her son, 2, got a hold of his brother’s spiral motion bubbler toy and broke it by throwing it at the ground.
“The liquid inside went everywhere, including on his foot,” she said.
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“It had a weird smell to it, but I just cleaned it up, and then he went for his nap.”
Elizabeth said when her son woke up he told her his foot was hurting, and upon inspection she saw it was red, inflamed and swollen.
“He wouldn’t walk at first, so I took him to urgent care,” she said.
Elizabeth was given a script for antibiotics, and the pair was discharged from hospital.
However, after her son woke up later from a nap, Elizabeth discovered the blisters and redness had become even worse.
“My partner had said maybe it’s a chemical burn from whatever was inside the Kmart toy, so we decided to take him straight to the hospital, where we waited for a while,” she said.
Elizabeth and her son waited in emergency for about 11 hours, while staff conducted tests and concluded he had suffered chemical burns.
“They dressed his foot to help the burn heal, which was to stay on for seven days without getting wet,” she said.
After taking the product back to Penrith Kmart, Elizabeth was told the matter would be escalated.
Elizabeth later posted images of their horrific ordeal, which showed her son’s red and blistered foot, to a local mums’ community page.
“Be safe, everyone!” she concluded the post.
Other mums shared their concern over the story and urged her to report the matter further.
“Omg I hope they recall it,” one mother said.
“The poor baby that looks super painful,” a second added.
The toy itself, which is recommended for those over the age of three, has been removed from the Kmart website.
A Kmart Spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au, the retailer “takes the quality and safety of all products very seriously”.
“While this product complies with all required standards, we investigate any safety or quality issues that are raised with us,” they said.
“We encourage any customer who experiences an issue with a product to get in touch with our customer service team to ensure that it can be investigated properly.”
