Bella’s story – tea scald

If only the mug handle had been pointing inwards……

Tom recounts what happened the morning his daughter Bella reached up and pulled the mug of tea down from the table.

It was a usual family morning in January as my wife and I prepared breakfast and our daughter Bella aged 1½ pottered around, only just confident on her feet.

The freshly made mug of tea was on the dining table, close to the edge with the handle facing outwards and in the blink of an eye Bella reached up to the handle and pulled the tea down over her chest.

We quickly removed her dressing gown and baby grow and saw the skin peel away from her chest.  We called 999 who advised us to take her into a cool bath and pour cool water over the area.

I took her into the bath first, my adrenalin having kicked in to take action, knowing that my wife was distraught.  When the paramedics arrived my wife took over in the bath continuing to cool the burn.   I’ll never forget the moment one of the paramedics took me aside and said ‘You are not bad parents’ and at this point the reality of what had happened kicked in and I felt the lowest I’d ever felt in my life.

Bella was rushed to Exeter hospital, and I followed in the car.  They gave her painkillers, assessed the burn and applied a dressing over the area and then said we needed to go to the burns service in Plymouth.  We headed off to Plymouth where the burns team were waiting for us and within two hours of arriving, she was in the operating theatre.  It was the longest hour of my life waiting for Bella to come out of the operating theatre….and when the burns surgeon came to give us an update carrying a teddy bear for Bella with bandages in the same place as her burns, I was so grateful.

Bella had to stay in hospital for three days and I found each dressing change so difficult.  When Bella was discharged they were still unsure as to whether she would need a skin graft to her chest and we continued to attend appointments at Plymouth for the next two weeks until they confirmed that a skin graft wasn’t needed and the burn would heal by itself.

The burns outreach nurse then visited us at home until the burn was completely healed at around 12 weeks…she was amazing not only looking after Bella but supporting my wife and I and answering all our questions. 

Bath time was difficult, and Bella didn’t like the healed area being touched; she would scream when she knew it was bathtime.  But slowly things improved and we now just apply silicone at night and hope that the itching will soon subside.

We know that Bella will have no recollection of the accident and we are grateful for this.  We are keen for Bella to be confident with her scar and encourage her to rub cream on the area herself. We have encouraged family and friends to ask her about her scar for her to tell them what happened.

We know this was a total accident that happened in the blink of an eye, but we are devastated and will never forget it. If only the mug had been further back on the table or the handle had been facing inwards…….little actions that we now know are so important.