Girl scalded in kitchen after mum turns back for 'less than a second'
A father of four has taken to social media to desperately warn parents that accidents can happen "in less than a second" after his daughter burned herself with boiling hot water.
The moment was captured on video by an indoor security camera, showing how the typical family dinnertime turned into a "kitchen nightmare".
The footage, filmed in the UK, shows seven-year-old Delilah and her mum Clemmie in the kitchen preparing dinner. Clemmie is seen turning down the flames on one of the hobs on the gas stove which has a couple of pots. She walks over to the sink to complete a task and momentarily turns her back to the stove.
It is in this moment that Delilah can be seen walking towards the pot and peek inside, before accidentally knocking the handle and spilling the boiling hot water over her hand.
The family rushed to hospital
According to Simon's instagram post, his young daughter "instantly burnt herself" but her mum's quick treatment of the burn prevented her injury from being far worse.
"Thanks to Clemmie's quick thinking, she managed to keep her hand under cold water for 20 minutes before rushing to A&E," he said.
The doctor believes the young girl's clothing helped protect the skin on her arm from further scalding and Simon expressed his relief that it was only her hand that made contact with the boiling water.
How to best avoid this situation
Christine Erskine from Kidsafe NSW shared that it's a fine balance between trying to teach children about cooking while also keeping them safe in the kitchen.
"With a seven-year-old, they are often excited to be in the kitchen and help with the cooking. You want to encourage that involvement but double-check any safety measures before the child there," she told Yahoo News Australia.
Simple things like tucking away pot handles and talking to the child about safety in the kitchen can go a long way to preventing accidents and keeping everyone safe.
"You want to always supervise at that age still, particularly when you are working with hot fluids or hot ingredients" she continued.
Despite claiming to have implemented similar safety measures in their household, it seems that accidents can still happen to the most cautious of us, with Simon saying "curiosity just got the better of Delilah".
Thankfully, the instagram post was accompanied with a picture of Delilah smiling while holding up her bandaged hand to camera.
"It could have been so much worse," Simon said.
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