The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP) in Edinburgh has shared the harrowing story of a young girl that fell into a boiling bath for Burns Awareness Day.
Brave Courtney, seven, was visiting a family friend’s house shortly before her fourth birthday when she reached for a toy over a running bath and fell into the scalding water. Her mother Chloe has agreed to share their story in the hope of raising awareness for other families and to pay tribute to the amazing staff at the RHCYP.
Burns and scald s are said to be one of the most common injuries to suffer in the home with over 7,000 babies and children suffering from serious burns in 2021 alone. Chloe spoke of the impact of the injuries that Courtney suffered on that day three years ago.
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She said: “It was just before Courtney's fourth birthday in 2019 and we were visiting our friends. Courtney was playing with their daughter and unknown to us had followed her friend to the toilet while there was a bath running.
“We heard the worst screams and found that Courtney had fallen into the scalding hot bath while trying to reach for a toy. I managed to get her out of the bath quite quickly and strip her clothes off.
“We then wrapped her in a wet towel to help with the burning and at this point we didn't realise how much damage had been done. By the time we got to our local hospital in Kirkcaldy she was covered in massive bulging blisters.
“Very soon after, Courtney was rushed to Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh and we began to realise how bad this actually was. We were told her body might go into shock.
“Courtney was transferred into the high dependency unit where she was sent to theatre every few days to get her burns scrubbed and redressed. We were praying for no infection.
“The pain she went through even lifting her to a different position on the hospital bed still breaks our heart when we think about it. Seeing our daughter in this state was the worst thing we've been through in our lives.
“We were told that Courtney had suffered 27 per cent burns to her body - her feet and the top of her thigh were worst-affected, due to her socks and pants holding the scalding water onto her skin.
“After being released from hospital her feet were still bandaged for the next few weeks and when the bandages came off she struggled to walk properly for a while. She had physiotherapy for over a year to help with the scarring as well as multiple other appointments.
“I honestly can't thank all the amazing doctors and nurses at Edinburgh sick kids enough, especially Pauline, our burns nurse specialist, who is truly amazing at what she does. Courtney is now seven years old and doing great.
“She has lots of scars but doesn't let them define her. We would never have thought that tap water could burn so badly.
“I’d like other families to know that you can turn the water temperature down on your boiler. If we had known that, things might have been different for us.”
The RHCYP thanked Courtney and her family for sharing their story. They added that people could seek advice and help on how to prevent burns and scalds at home by clicking here.
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