A mum has posted graphic pictures of her daughter's foot burn, as a warning to parents.
In a post on Facebook, Heather Switzer, from Portland in the US, explained how her daughter was playing with her kite at the beach during their vacation, when she badly burned her foot.
The mum wrote on Facebook: 'I've been asked to make a public post. This last week we were at the coast on vacation for a few days. Second day into our trip: we had just arrived at the beach. I had just made kalani her kite. She was not even 20 feet away from me, trying to get her little kite up and flying.
'As she was running back and forth I saw her kind of sink down and then scream. I immediately ran to her and picked her up. It was then that I saw the skin on her foot falling off. I ran her to the bathroom for clean water and called 911. Once we got to the hospital they told us this was the third child they had seen for a foot burn.'
The mum then explains that someone had had a fire where her child was playing, but it wasn't visible as they covered it with sand, which turns it into a 'trap for children'.
Credit: Facebook/Heather Switzer
'I guess it’s common for people to cover their fire embers/fires with sand. This makes a trap for children or anyone for that matter. Kalani had stepped into a freshly covered fire. It was a windy day with others having fires as well. So we did not see smoke. Please be cautious when on the beach. And if you are someone who has covered your fire with sand please PLEASE use water next time. This could have been so much worse, as my kids love to jump in the sand', she wrote.
The mum added that her daughter is healing well, and was due to have a skin graph this week. She also offered advice for anyone who had to help people experiencing a burn. 'Also if you even experience a burn or have to help someone that has just been burned, your gut reaction may be to run to the ocean and submerge the burn. Do not do this. Find clean water and treat the burn just like an open wound. Ocean water can contain bacteria like Staphylococcus Which can enter the blood steam through an open wound', she added.
