By Josh Taylor
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WEST VIRGINIA (KDKA) — What should’ve been a routine trip almost became one mother’s worst nightmare, and it was caused by a mistake that any parent could make.
Kim Staggs had just picked up her 13-year-old daughter, Natalee, from her grandparents’ house when a squishy toy that had mistakenly been left inside a hot car exploded.
“We weren’t even a mile up the road, and she just lets out this blood-curdling scream,” Staggs told KDKA. “I’m driving and watching the road, and she lets out this awful scream. My heart sank.”
Staggs says she looked over to find her daughter’s lap covered in a clear substance, which was later identified as silicone. She immediately drove Natalee to a nearby hospital, where she was immediately received into the emergency room.
“They cleaned her right up with saline,” she said. “It took a bit because the stuff inside of it was like this thick. The only way I could explain was like a hot taffy after it had cooled.”
The Poison Control Center was also called, which told Staggs that this case wasn’t uncommon. In fact, it had been one of about a half dozen calls for local incidents related to squishy toys, but also only a small part of a larger, dangerous trend.
The BBC has also recently reported several incidents in Scotland, where children suffered serious burns after trying to heat squishy toys in microwaves. There has reportedly been a recent social media trend where the toys are being heated in microwaves in order to make them softer.
Last month, an 11-year-old girl was treated for severe burns on her left cheek and eyelid.
“If you try to put them in a microwave, or leave them in a hot car, they can just be dangerous,” Staggs said.
Not only are they dangerous when heated, but Staggs was also told that some specific brands use chemicals that could still be dangerous regardless of how hot the toys become.
By the next day, Natalee’s wounds were healing, and none of the scarring was considered to be serious.
“That nurse said, ‘You are not lucky, you’re blessed,’ because if it would’ve been a different type of squishy, it could’ve been really bad,” Staggs said. “It could’ve popped in her face, just anything.”
Staggs made a post on Facebook that has since gone viral, with millions of views and tens of thousands of shares, all in an effort to make sure what happened to her child doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“I hate that it happened to my own, but I’m just thankful that it wasn’t any worse than what it could’ve been,” she said. “If we can put a stop to it, that’s the goal right there.”
Staggs said her advice to parents and other caretakers is to double-check your car when you get out, and to also teach children to remove those toys from the car to avoid overheating.
“A lot of people were thanking us,” she said of the online feedback. “They’re glad we shared our story. It’s not something they would’ve thought about.”
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