Four-year-old scarred by red-hot coal from steam engine on family day out
A DAY out turned to horror when a fouryear-old girl was badly burned by a redhot lump of coal as a steam engine passed at a vintage vehicle show.
Anysia Gardener will have long-term scars after the “50p-sized” block landed on her neck, doctors have told her family.
The little girl, who was with her grandmother Alex Edwards, 66, began “screaming and crying” as the coal rolled down her chin and stuck just below her neck.
Her mother Charissa Chapman, 25, is taking legal action against Crosville Motor Service which owns the steam engine, which travels on road and claims other spectators were hit.
Bystanders helped carry Anysia into a nearby hotel and she was admitted to a specialist burns unit in Bristol.
The incident happened in Westonsuper-Mare, Somerset, at Crosville's vintage vehicle day on the seaside town's Beach Lawns.
Fatal
Ms Chapman said: “Anysia had a swimming costume on and it hit the one exposed area, just below her neck towards the chin.
“As the steam engine went past, coal sprayed out of a pipe and left her with four 50p-sized deep burns.
“She has been seeing specialists weekly to have the dressing changed. They are checking for infection and she cries every time.
“Doctors say it will leave long-term scars but hope they fade over time.”
Ms Chapman, who lives with her husband James, 25, in Weston-super-Mare, added: “I am taking legal action. There should have been a gauze to protect spectators. I know others were hit but I don't think it was as bad.
“This steam engine gets used at many events. If it hit a newborn baby in a pram it could have been fatal.”