A schoolboy was permanently disfigured after being badly burned by a disposable barbecue.
Will Tyler, now 11, needed skin grafts from his thigh to his foot after stepping on "red hot" sand. Dad Toby has now called for disposable barbecues to be banned after Will was left with lifelong scars after stepping on the sand hours after the barbecue had been removed.
Toby said the trauma of his son's injury has had a "significant impact" on him both physically and psychologically. The 52-year-old schoolteacher from Stockport said his son suffers from PTSD and "severe anxiety attacks”.
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Will had been on a trip to Formby Beach in June 2020 with Toby, mum Claire and older sister Lily. Will, who was nine at the time of the incident, had to be carried 20 minutes from the Merseyside beach to the family car before rushing to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.
Will had skin grafts from his right thigh to his left foot to repair the damage. The Year Six pupil still has to go back to hospital every six to eight weeks for checks - a process which will continue until he stops growing.
Speaking out just days after seven-year-old girl Simi Adenaike was badly burned in a similar incident in Swansea, Toby has called for disposable barbecues to be banned before more people come to harm. Toby told the Manchester Evening News : "He has to wear the compression sock all the time, including at school and in swimming and PE.
"He has massages twice a day, a splint as well as frequent and regular visits to the hospital’s burns unit and psychosocial support unit. He has to wear special UV shoes - he's very vulnerable to sunlight so doesn’t get that feeling anymore to walk in the sand.
"Otherwise - he suffers from quite bad anxiety attacks and there was a strong feeling of PTSD affecting him. I think it's evolving now and he has been diagnosed with autism since the trauma. I think it has probably always been an issue for Will but the accident has opened or exaggerated pathways.”
Toby has launched a petition calling for a ban of disposable barbecues. He said there are "far too many risks and dangers" associated with the throwaway product.
He is also backing National BBQ Week’s “Ditch the Disposable” campaign - which is calling for the government to introduce legislation that would outlaw the items - more than a million of which end up in landfill every year.
Toby added: “They are awful things and don’t even cook food very well. There are so many reasons not to use them and there are so many far better alternatives.”
National BBQ Week's founder Brian George, aka the Grillmaster, said: “We have been calling for retailers to Ditch the Disposable since 2020 and this is a prime example of the dire need for a nationwide ban. They may be cheap to buy but they have a heavy environmental price.
"Whilst some national retailers have already put partial bans in place, it’s simply not enough, retailers need to enforce a complete ban or else the UK government needs to step in and enforce a ban. In the meantime, I would encourage shoppers to send them a clear message not to buy them and that they have no place on shop shelves in 2022. As we’ve said many, many times, Ditch the Disposable.”
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