Baby burnt and screamed in agony after hot gravy spill in pub

A mum whose daughter suffered burns after spilling piping hot gravy on herself in a pub has warned others not to place hot liquids in front of babies and small children.

Catrin Griffiths, 29, from Bangor, Gwynedd, fears eight-month-old Neli will be scarred for life on her hand and leg.

She said a pub waitress "accidentally" placed a gravy boat by her daughter when they went out for a roast dinner.

Griffiths said it took Neli a split second to dunk her left hand into the jug. She then "yelped", pulled out her hand and spilt the gravy on her left leg.

The NHS says if your child has been burnt you should treat it straight away.

Warning: Distressing image

"The waitress started bringing the food out. She brought a hot jug of gravy and she placed it on Neli's placemat, so it was directly in front of her," Griffiths said.

"It was a silly mistake that she [the waitress] did. You would never put a pint of beer or cup of tea in front of a baby, so why would you do this?"

She added that Neli took her hand out quickly but then knocked the jug down herself, causing burns on her leg.

The nursery worker grabbed her "screaming" baby, stripped her from her gravy-soaked clothes and placed her hand under a cold tap for 10 minutes.

"When it's your child and it happens so quickly, you go into a panic," she said.

"She was screaming for so long. Her hand was red and raw looking, it didn't blister for 20 minutes."

She then wrapped Neli's hand and leg in a muslin cloth and took her to A&E at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.

The mother-of-two said Neli's hand was swollen and blistered in the hospital, with some of the blisters popping.

"She was screaming and in agony.

"I was heartbroken and I felt so useless as I couldn't do anything but sit and wait and watch her in this pain, it was awful."

The severity of the burns meant Neli was transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. There the dead skin was scraped off her burns before they were covered in gel and dressed in gauze to help them heal.

According to Griffiths, the doctor said Neli had suffered a third-degree burn on her hand and a superficial burn on her leg.

She viewed the accident as a "silly mistake" but now is warning people to avoid the same thing happening again.

Since the incident, Griffiths has taken Neli back for check-ups and to get her dressings changed.

She fears her baby may be left scarred for life, adding she would have to be careful in the sun from now on.

"She does have a lot of scarring on her hand now and they don't know if this will heal or not.

"When she gets into the bath her hand changes colour and goes really red, we have to watch her in the sun as it was such a bad burn."

Griffiths is now raising awareness about the dangers of placing hot items in the reach of children.

"It's not even just hot things, you wouldn't put a knife and fork in front of a baby, due to the danger it carries.

"When they get to this age, they're so inquisitive and want to learn so they're constantly touching everything and picking things off the ground. They're into everything.

"If this had never happened to Neli, I wouldn't have thought this was something to worry about."

You should treat all burns and scalds straight away.

• Hold the burn or scald under cool running water for 20 minutes. Do this as soon as possible, within three hours of it happening. If there's no running water available, you can use cool bottled water or a wet towel

• Remove any clothing or jewellery that's near the affected area, but do not remove anything that is stuck to it

• When the burn or scald has cooled, lay cling film over it if you can. Do not wrap the cling film around it