A terrified four-year-old boy was almost blinded after bungling doctors glued his eye shut while treating a head injury.
Little Jay Watson gashed his head in a play area of a garden centre while on a day out with his older brother Jordan, 11, and their gran Jayne Gilder.
The youngster, from Studley, Warks., was left with a 3cm cut to his head which wouldn’t stop bleeding, so he was taken to hospital.
But while a doctors used medical glue to seal up the wound, the medic accidentally dripped the powerful sealant into his right eye.
Doctors at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Worcs., apologised for the mistake on October 26 and told his family his eye should open by itself within a few hours.
But Jay, currently being assesses for Asperger’s syndrome, was forced to wait five days before he was able to blink again when the glue finally dissolved.
His family have now blasted the medics for the blunder, saying Jay has been left “traumatised” by the ordeal.
Jayne, 59, who has three grandchildren and two children, said: “I had taken Jay and his older brother Jordan to the garden centre’s Halloween fun day during half term.
“We were in the garden centre and Jay banged his head in a soft play area.
“It wasn’t a big cut but it was deep and it wouldn’t stop bleeding.
“I took him to the Alexandra Hospital and his mum met us there as she was in work.
“We were sat in the waiting room as Jay was good as gold.
“But then we were called in and a young doctor squeezed the tube of glue on the cut to close it, but he pressed too hard and the glue ran down Jay’s face into his eye.
“The next thing we knew, his eye wouldn’t open.
“The doctor got a tube of saline solution to try and wash the glue out, but it didn’t budge.
“The whole thing should have been over and done with in ten minutes. Why they didn’t put an eye patch or something to protect his eye, I don’t know.
“What amazed us even more was the fact that the doctor told us it wasn’t the first time this had happened. It was like he was proud of it.
“The stress that child went through to try to and open his eye is unbelievable. He screamed the hospital down, all because of incompetence.“They made a mountain out of a mole hill. He came out looking like he had been in a war zone.
“He left looking worse than what he did when he was admitted.
“The state he came out in was disgusting.
“What’s worse is that the doctor told us to go home and that Jay’s eye would open by itself.
“That night, he didn’t sleep a wink and he was in agony.
“We decided to take him back to the Alexandra Hospital where they told us we had two options, to force his eye open or to wait for it to loosen in due course.
“Jo couldn’t face another night like that, so we agreed to try and get the eye to open.
“It was so traumatic for him. I was holding his legs, his mum was holding his arms and a nurse had hold of his head, while the doctor tried to prise his eye open.
“He was screaming the place down. It was a horrific scream.”
After another restless sleep, Jayne and Jo took him to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital for a second opinion, but the family were again told it was a matter of waiting for the glue to slacken.
Jayne, of Crabbs Cross, Worcs,, said: “We were told it was just a waiting game.
“We took him home and he was walking round with both of his eyes closed because it was less painful for him.“The only relief he had was when we put a cold compress on his eye.
“It wasn’t until the Monday that his eye eventually opened.
“He was in excruciating pain. The whole thing could have been avoided so easily and that’s what his mum is annoyed about the most.”
Jay, who attends Coughton Church of England Primary School in Alcester, Warks., returned to school last Wednesday (2/11).
Jay’s mum Jo, 36, a mental health coordinator who lives with her husband Michael, 35, and their children, said: “Parents do need to be aware that they need to cover their child’s eyes or to ask the consultant to cover their eyes.
“I couldn’t fault the hospital’s aftercare, but it shouldn’t happen in the first place. “It was a nightmare because it was so sore.;
“He couldn’t open his eye and the glue was scratching. Parents do need to be aware that they need to cover their child’s eyes or to ask the consultant to cover their eyes.
“I couldn’t fault the hospital’s aftercare, but it shouldn’t happen in the first place.
“If it has happened before already, something should have been done to fix it so it doesn’t does not to happen again.”
A Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said: “We are concerned when a patients experience doesn’t match the high standards we set for ourselves, however we are unable to discuss individual cases.