An 18-month-old girl was almost blinded when a washing machine capsule exploded in her face – leaving her with 95 per cent burns to her left eye.
Little Rainbow Jones was left with horrific injuries when the Ariel Liquitab burst in her hand covering her with the chemicals inside.
Mum Simone Jones, 27, heard her daughter scream in agony and desperately tried to wash the liquid off her skin before rushing her to hospital.
Rainbow suffered chemical burns to her face but doctors saved her sight by rinsing her eyes with a diluting solution.
Mum-of-two Simone, who also has a three-year-old son Phoenix, said: “I had just turned my back just to turn their food over in the oven and in a few seconds I heard this huge pop and then screaming.
“When I turned round I just felt sick to my stomach and felt the desperate need to wash it off her and out her eye.
“So I grabbed her immediately and ran upstairs to put her in the bath I’d already ran for my husband.
“She was just screaming in pain and fighting everything I did, but I had to just keep rinsing her with fresh water regardless of the screaming and restraining.
“I tried my best to rinse her eyes but she was still fighting me quite badly.
“My house was filled with screams from both kids at this point. My son (who is being tested for autism) was especially upset by it all as he has very limited understanding.”
Rainbow was playing at her home in Irthlingborough, near Kettering, Northants., last Wednesday (15/6) evening when she grabbed the washing capsule out of a child-proof cupboard.
Simone, a beauty therapist who lives with partner Dale Fraser, 49, who works as a removal man, added: “We are always very careful to put potentially dangerous items
out of the reach of the children.
“As I turned my back Rainbow somehow managed to reach inside a child-locked cupboard where the washing tablets are kept.
“There was a small gap in the cupboard and as she tried to pull it out it obviously popper and just went all over her face and in her eyes.
“It was terrifying and I just want to warn other parents to keep washing tablets away from children.”
After washing Rainbow in the bath, Simone, who is first aid trained, drove her daughter to Kettering General Hospital after she collapsed.
Doctors told Miss Jones that Rainbow had 95 per cent burns to the cornea in her left eye – after the protective layer was stripped off – and five per cent to the right.
Miss Jones said: “It was 20 minutes until my partner arrived home and all I did within the space of waiting was check her heart rate, and rinse her eyes out.
“When Dale arrived, she was starting to go floppy and lethargic, so I just knew I had to take her A&E.
“And when we arrived, they acted straight away and, I have to say, they were fantastic.
“The doctors told us that they did not know whether Rainbow had suffered long term damage to her vision, as she was unable to open her eye-lids for long.”
Rainbow was discharged the next day and thankfully further checks revealed her eyes were recovering and she was unlikely to suffer any long term damage.
The couple have now posted graphic pictures of Rainbow’s injuries on Facebook to highlight the dangers of washing up capsules.
She wrote: “What I’ve learned – the hard way – is that child locks are not 100 per cent effective!” she said.
“I would urge parents to move all their dangerous products completely out of reach, no matter how old their children. I thought mine were safe, but clearly they weren’t.
“Also, I would advise parents in a situation like this to basically act as quickly as possible when contact with the substance occurs.
“The key things to do are not panic and stay as calm as possible. Ring 999 if you have no idea what to do.
“Some parents freeze or panic…and immediate action is key for flushing these toxins out of the body.”
